Big Lots at Half-Price Signals 50% Markup

For buyout firms looking for a deal, Big Lots Inc. (BIG) is now offering the biggest bargain among discount retailers in America.

Big Lots at Half-Price Signals 50% Markup in Cheapest Retail LBO: Real M&A

Big Lots, which sells discontinued and overstocked brand name goods, trades at 13.9 times its so-called free cash flow, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the cheapest among its closest rivals and half the industry median. As private equity firms circle 99 Cents Only Stores (NDN) and Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO), a buyer could pay a 50 percent premium for Big Lots and still get the Columbus, Ohio-based retailer at a lower price than any of its competitors, the data show.

Selling Big Lots would help Chief Executive Officer Steve Fishman hand owners a billion-dollar windfall after retailers returned 10 times as much in the past three years. While Big Lots had hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to explore options, the stock plunged 26 percent since its April high as a sale failed to materialize. The slide has made Big Lots even more affordable now to private-equity buyers, Telsey Advisory Group LLC said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-21/big-lots-at-half-price-signals-50-gain.html

Deal Signals Market Recovery

In 2007, before the financial world turned upside down, a condominium developer signed a contract to pay more than $33 million for a former assisted living facility in the heart of the West Village.

More than three years later, the developer, FLAnk, has closed on the purchase of the building on Hudson and West 12th streets. But, unlike scores of investors who walked from deals or renegotiated drastically lower prices with sellers after the crunch hit, FLAnk paid just a few million dollars short the full pre-crash price: $33.3 million.


After three years, a developer has closed on the purchase of a building at Hudson and West 12th streets.
.The deal is the latest sign that the city's residential development engine is beginning to crank up again. FLAnk was able to secure construction financing from Quinlan Development Group and M&T Bank to convert the property into 10 condos ranging from 3,300 to 9,000 square feet, according to Jon Kully, a principal at FLAnk.
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