EXCLUSIVE-Silver Lake to explore sale of tax-free shopping firm Global Blue -sources

Private equity firm Silver Lake is preparing to explore a sale of Global Blue Group Holdings Ltd , a company that enables retailers to offer tax-free shopping, after receiving expressions of interest from potential acquirers, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Private equity firm Silver Lake is preparing to explore a sale of Global Blue Group Holdings Ltd , a company that enables retailers to offer tax-free shopping, after receiving expressions of interest from potential acquirers, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The deliberations come as Global Blue recovers from the air travel slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which weighed on duty-free shopping. It still faces headwinds, including price inflation and the prospect of an economic recession in Europe, which the company says it can tackle.

Silver Lake has hired an investment bank to explore options for Global Blue, which include a sale or capital market transactions, the sources said. Other companies and private equity firms have shown interest in acquiring Global Blue, the sources added. The sources cautioned that a deal isn't certain and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Silver Lake declined to comment, while Global Blue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Global Blue's shares rose 9.2% in afternoon trading in New York on Tuesday to $4.99, giving the company a market value of about $1 billion. The company had net debt of 550 million euros ($600 million) as of the end of March. Headquartered in Signy, Switzerland, Global Blue provides technology that reimburses retailers for making shopping tax-free for consumers. It serves more than 400,000 merchant stores in over 50 countries.

Silver Lake owns more than two-thirds of Global Blue after acquiring it in a 1-billion-euro deal in 2012 and then merging it with a blank-check acquisition company sponsored by Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point LLC in 2020 at a $2.6 billion valuation. Global Blue reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 78 million euros in the 12 months to the end of March, compared to a 9.9 million euro loss in the previous 12 months, as it benefited from the travel industry's recovery. It has said it expects the bounce-back to continue as China reopens its travel.

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