Nordstrom family offers to take store private for $3.76B with Mexican retail group

Members of the Nordstrom family are teaming up with a Mexican retail group, offering to take the department store chain private for $23 a share in cash, months after first expressing interest in a takeover.

NEW YORK — Members of the Nordstrom family, with the help of a Mexican retail group, are offering to take the century-old department store private for $3.76 billion per share, months after first expressing interest in a takeover.

Erik Nordstrom wrote in a letter to the board of directors on Tuesday that Nordstrom family members own approximately 33.4% of the company’s outstanding common stock and are willing to pay investors $23 for each share they own.

The Mexican retail group, called El Puerto de Liverpool, operates more than 300 stores in Mexico and is the country’s third-largest credit card issuer with more than 7.2 million active accounts. It already owns about 9.6% of Nordstrom shares.

The offer represents a nearly 35% premium on Nordstrom’s shares since March 18, when media first reported on the proposed transaction.

The letter states that the group has committed to new bank financing of $250 million.

Erik B. and Peter E. Nordstrom are fourth-generation leaders of the retailer, which was founded in 1901 as a shoe store. Erik is the company’s CEO and Peter is its president. In the regulatory filing, the family cited the health of their late father, Bruce Nordstrom, as one of the reasons behind the proposed transaction. Former chairman Bruce Nordstrom died in May at the age of 90.

Seattle-based Nordstrom has confirmed receipt of the proposal and a special committee of the board of directors, which the company formed in April, will evaluate the offer.

Shares of Nordstrom, up 27% this year, fell 33 cents to $22.49 before the opening bell on Wednesday.