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Bloomberg
Pandora shares soared in Copenhagen on a report that private equity funds are considering buying the beleaguered Danish jewellery maker.
The stock added as much as 11 percent, the most since May 2016, after Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore said KKR and Bain Capital are among private-equity funds that could be studying a dossier on Pandora. Sole, which didn’t cite anyone for its reporting, said the jewellery maker is a “perfect target†for buyout funds.
Before Tuesday, Pandora shares were down more than 60 percent from a May 2016 peak as the bracelet maker has battled weak retail sales in the US, competition from cheap imports in China and a phalanx of hedge funds betting against it.
The market value of Pandora is now roughly $7 billion compared with a 2016 peak of $18 billion. The stock is currently trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.2. That’s the lowest among a peer group of nine international jewellery companies, which have an average PE ratio of
15 (including Pandora’s), according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Johan Melchior, a Pandora spokesman, said he didn’t immediately have any comment, when contacted by phone.