Apparel firm Pacific Brands says takeover offer by KKR unlikely

Australian apparel maker Pacific Brands Ltd today said that takeover talks with potential bidders including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) have ended, but none of the interested parties have made a buyout offer.

Private equity firm KKR entered into talks in January and was reported to have made a $614 million bid for Pacific Brands, which makes over 300,000 different products and sells over 200 million units per year.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, the Melbourne- based company had said in January 2011, "The board of Pacific Brands, together with its advisers Flagstaff Partners and Minter Ellison, is considering the approach and preliminary discussions are being held with KKR." 

''There is no certainty that these discussions will lead to any agreement being reached between the parties,'' the company had said.

Pacific Brands today said in a statement, "Having explored these enquiries, the board of Pacific Brands has concluded that a definitive proposal for the acquisition of the entire issued capital of the company is unlikely to be forthcoming in the near term."

A source told Reuters in February that private equity firm TPG Capital had held initial discussions with a group of eight banks to fund a takeover bid for Pacific Brands.