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Mothercare CFO Poached By Debenhams As Destination Maternity Merger Prospect Withdrawn(Alliance News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LONDON (Alliance News) - Debenhams PLC said Monday that it has appointed Mothercare PLC's CFO Matt Smith as its own chief financial officer. Smith will also join the retailer's board upon his appointment. He had served as CFO at Mothercare since 2013 and before this held a number of finance positions at Home Retail PLC. Debenhams said Smith will join "upon the satisfaction of his existing contractual obligations." The announcement comes as the mother and baby retailer responded to the announcement by Destination Maternity Corp Friday that it is withdrawing its proposal to merge with Mothercare. Mothercare said Monday that it noted the announcement of Destination Maternity's withdrawal and that it has had no contact with the company since June 3, 2014. Earlier this month, Destination Maternity increased its offer to GBP266 million or USD453 million after two non-binding written proposals were rejected by Mothercare's board. Under the offer, Mothercare shareholders would have received 300 pence for each Mothercare share, compared with 250 -275 pence it initially proposed. Destination Maternity Friday said its financial adviser canvassed the views of shareholders who hold a substantial proportion of Mothercare shares. "While Destination Maternity believes that its proposal was compelling, it is clear that the shareholders of Mothercare believe that only a very significant increase in the value of such proposal would be acceptable," Destination Maternity said. The company said it light of this and considering it has not been permitted by Mothercare's board to conduct due diligence, it is unwilling to increase the value of its proposal and has therefore decided to withdraw its proposal. In a statement Monday Mothercare said, "Mothercare is now fully focused on the Company's plan to turnaround the UK business and to continue its strong International growth. The Board remains confident in the ongoing execution of Mothercare's strategy as an independent company." Mothercare trades 11.64% lower at 228.193 pence per share, one of the biggest fallers on the London market Monday morning. Debenhams shares were trading 1.83% higher at 65.275 pence per share. Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. |