Nordstrom, the luxury fashion retailer, was once owned by its founding family with the same name. However, like most former family-owned companies, the Nordstrom family had to sell most of the company’s ownership to keep the business running.
In the last few years, the Nordstrom family has been trying to regain its business since it was left with a 33% stake in the company but no majority power over its decisions after selling most of its shares.
Related: Nordstrom joins forces with surprising Latin American counterpart
Maybe it’s because the Nordstrom family considers the company a family heirloom, or maybe it’s because of the company’s unwavering success despite the declining luxury market. Still, either way, the founding family has remained strong in its conviction to get its name-sake company back.
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The Nordstrom family’s battle to reacquire its namesake business
In 2018, the family proposed an $8.4 billion bid to acquire Nordstrom (JWN) , but the offer was rejected because it was deemed too low.
The Nordstrom family tried to make another deal in September, but this time, it joined forces with the Latin American version of their namesake company, El Puerto de Liverpool, a popular Mexican real estate and luxury department store company.
El Puerto de Liverpool (LIVEPOL1.MX) could almost be considered the Latin American version of Nordstrom since it targets a very similar customer base and sells various luxury and brand-name products ranging from apparel to specialty foods.
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Although the two companies could be rivals, they don’t cover the same regional market, allowing them to form a strong business relationship.
The relationship between the retailers started in 2022 when El Puerto de Liverpool revealed it had nearly a 10% stake in Nordstrom. Since then, the two have only become stronger business partners, which prompted them to develop another strategy to acquire the Nordstrom empire.
On the second try, the Nordstrom family submitted an offer of $3.8 billion and a cash offer of $23 for each common stock to purchase outstanding shares of the luxury third-party retailer in an effort to take the company private.
However, the offer was not very strong, resulting in an inadequate price ruling similar to the one made six years ago.
The Nordstrom family acquires Nordstrom with the help of its Latin American partner
On Monday, Nordstrom announced it had agreed to an acquisition deal valued at around $6.25 billion from the Nordstrom family and El Puerto de Liverpool.
According to the deal, the Nordstrom family will hold majority ownership in the company at 50.1%, and Liverpool will have minority ownership at 49.9%. For each common stock, shareholders will receive a cash offer of $24.25 to purchase outstanding shares.
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Along with the agreement, Nordstrom will become a private company once the deal closes in the first half of 2025. This will be the first time since 1971 that Nordstrom will return to being a private company.
“Today marks an exciting new chapter for the business. On behalf of my family, we look forward to working with our teams to ensure Nordstrom thrives long into the future,” said Nordstrom CEO Erik Nordstrom in a press release.
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