E-Land reported to be preparing Collective Brands bid

05/04/2012
A report from Bloomberg makes Korean footwear group E-Land one of the favourites to acquire Collective Brands.

The US group, which owns the Payless ShoeSource chain of footwear stores, as well as shoe brands Saucony and Sperry Top-Sider, began thinking about finding a buyer last summer, Bloomberg said after reporting a loss. The business news source said at the same time that the prices it has heard quoted of between $20 and $22 per share would be cheap, around 60% of the value it believes Collective Brands has.

It went on to say that E-Land has not yet offered a price.