Outdoor sporting goods cataloger/retailer Cabela’s is denying a July 8 story by online newspaper “The Daily Deal” reporting that the marketer was on the selling block. The article quoted an unnamed source as saying that Cabela’s was actively seeking a buyer willing to pay $800 million-$900 million.
In a statement, Cabela’s says it is not on the block and, in fact, is planning to stay the course during what is shaping up to be a record year. “Since the purchase of Lands’ End by Sears, there has been a flood of interest in multichannel retailers, such as Cabela’s, which has received a number of inquiries from investors seeking opportunities,” the statement said. “Actually this is nothing new for Cabela’s, which has received hundreds of similar inquiries over the past 10 years.”
Cabela’s did recently hire J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (which holds a minority investment in Cabela’s and holds a nonvoting seat on the company’s board of directors) to respond to such offers. But the company denies that, as “The Daily Deal” reported, that J.P. Morgan Chase was running an auction and scheduled to send sales books to catalog suitors as well as financial buyers.
That said, in its statement Cabela’s noted that if an offer were to come along that met all the owner’s criteria, it would consider such an offer.