Sycamore Partners To Acquire Hot Topic For $600M

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Hot Topic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOTT) specializes in music and pop culture inspired fashion including body jewelry, accessories, Rock T-Shirts, Skinny Jeans, Band T-shirts, and Music T-shirts, as well as other products that make the fathers of teenagers cringe. High on that list must be their Blackheart line which promises ” Lingerie for Girls Who Rock.”

Sycamore Partners To Acquire Hot Topic For $600M

For those unfamiliar with what a Hot Topic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOTT) retail outlet looks like.. it’s something between a Kiss concert, where you could go for a free lesson in texting from a recent high school dropout, while hearing them speak a language you don’t recognize but they claim is English, all while seeing a bunch of guys leering about wondering if you’re going to buy your daughter that aforementioned lingerie.

They also do a cracking online business by offering free in-store returns thus negating the reason you allowed your teenager to buy from them online.

Humour and creepiness aside from this parent,  Hot Topic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOTT)’s stock soared 29%, or $3.14 to $13.89 a share on morning trading following the announcement that the board had approved a buyout from Sycamore Partners for nearly $600 million. Sycamore Partners, in a bit of irony, also acquired mom-favourite Talbot’s last summer for nearly $400 million. Perhaps it’s not irony but a quest to sell girl’s and woman’s apparel to all manner of female on the morality spectrum. “Whether your loose or staunchly conservative Sycamore Partners has something for everyone,” could read their next prospectus.

The deal still needs both regulatory approval as well as the thumbs-up from shareholders.

“We are very excited about the future growth for the company and know that Sycamore Partners will provide great resources and expertise to us as we operate as a private company,” said CEO Lisa Harper to the Associated Press.

Hot Topic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOTT) came to success through social media and the success of the Twilight franchise. The latter might cause investor concern given its, thankful, demise but Hot Topic has expanded its Torrid line of retail outlets. Torrid specializes in plus-size fashion that should continue to grow as our teens and the rest of the nation does.

According to LA Times’ reporting:

In its fourth quarter, which ended Feb. 2, the overall Hot Topic umbrella brought in $233 million in revenue, an 11% bump from the same period a year earlier.

Same-store sales at Hot Topic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOTT) locations open for more than a year saw a 2% increase, while the same measure for Torrid rose 5.4%.

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