Lillian Vernon Sale Complete

It’s official.  On July 2, Rye, NY-based Lillian Vernon Corp. completed the merger transaction approved by its stockholders on June 23rd in  a $60.5 million buyout offer from Ripplewood Holdings LLC.

The transaction also means that trading the company's common stock on the American Stock Exchange has ended. Lillian Vernon had been a publicly traded company since 1987. Under the terms of the merger, stockholders of Lillian Vernon will now receive $7.25 in cash for each share held.

Minority shareholder ZelnickMedia will manage the business, and Strauss Zelnick will serve as chairman. Lillian Vernon, the company’s 75-year-old founder will serve as non-executive chairwoman.

For the fiscal year ended Feb. 22, Lillian Vernon lost $18.6 million on sales of $238.0 million.

Bear, Stearns & Co. was the adviser to ZelnickMedia and Ripplewood. Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as financial adviser to Lillian Vernon Corp. on the transaction.