American Apparel, a clothing retailer based in the U.S., has been approached by Irving Place Capital, a private equity firm, for a possible buyout.
According to The Wall Street Journal, for the past few weeks the firm has been offering the clothing manufacturer for a takeover. However, insiders said that the Los Angeles-based company is refusing it due to the low offer.
The board has yet to respond to Irving's latest offer, raising the price range from $1.30 to $1.40 per share. Both American Apparel and Irving Place haven't responded to media calls about the news.
Irving Place Capital isn't the only company that approached the clothing brand. The New York Times said that the company has received multiple bids the past week.
Earlier this week, American Apparel fired its founder Dov Charney as CEO after a six-month suspension for misconduct. He's been suspected for sexual assault and allowing a blogger to post a nude photo of an employee filing a lawsuit against the company. While there's a report that Charney plans to return to the company, the retailer is finalizing his termination.
Reportedly, Charney had an argument with one of the members of the board and the New York hedge fund Standard General over a bid earlier this month. Insiders said that the bid caused a tension among them, ending up with the ousting of the American Apparel founder.
Back in July, Charney brought the Standard General LP to the board to help him be reinstated to the company. The hedge fund now has several appointees in the board, two of which voted to evict Charney from the company.
The Post said that American Apparel is considering multiple options at this point, and one of those is to bring back the founder. Some sources are saying that firing Charney complicated a sale since one of the offers the company received partnered with the former CEO.
