SECAUCUS, N.J., March 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Children’s Place, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCE), the
largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer in North America, today announced that, as part of an auction held in
connection with Gymboree’s bankruptcy proceeding, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company has entered into an Asset Purchase
Agreement with Gymboree Group, Inc. and related entities to acquire intellectual property and related assets of Gymboree and Crazy
8 (the “Gymboree Assets”) for $76 million in cash. The Gymboree Assets include the worldwide rights to the names “Gymboree”
and “Crazy 8” and other intellectual property, including trademarks, domain names, design rights, and customer databases. The
acquisition of the Gymboree Assets is subject to the approval of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of
Virginia at a hearing scheduled later today and other standard closing conditions.
The purchase price is expected to be funded by cash on hand and borrowings under the Company’s revolving credit facility. The
acquisition is anticipated to be accretive to Adjusted EPS beginning in Fiscal Year 2020 following low teens percentage dilution to
Fiscal Year 2019 Adjusted EPS as the Company makes incremental investments to support the strategic opportunities provided by the
Gymboree Assets.
Jane Elfers, President and CEO said, “Gymboree’s recent bankruptcy announcement and our agreement to acquire the Gymboree Assets
significantly strengthens our long-term position. Control of the Gymboree brand and IP will now allow us to meaningfully expand our
previously targeted market share opportunity. The acquisition will be an attractive vehicle to expand our business across price and
channel. It will provide us with a path to revitalize the Gymboree brand across various channels, including e-commerce, TCP
stores, wholesale, and international.”
Ms. Elfers concluded, “We have always had a great deal of respect for the loyal Gymboree customer. We heard her passionate
response to Gymboree’s merchandising changes loudly and clearly and we are prepared for the opportunity to fill the void for this
product in the marketplace. Importantly, the Gymboree customer, like our customer, is digitally savvy, and our accelerated
investment in digital capabilities in 2018 puts us in a stronger position to be able to bring these new customers into our
omni-channel ecosystem. We look forward to maximizing the multiple opportunities that this acquisition will provide to create value
for our shareholders.”
About The Children’s Place
The Children’s Place is the largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer in North America. The Company designs,
contracts to manufacture, sells at retail and wholesale, and licenses to sell fashionable, high-quality merchandise at value
prices, primarily under the proprietary “The Children’s Place,” “Place” and “Baby Place” brand names. As of February 2, 2019,
the Company operated 972 stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, an online store at www.childrensplace.com, and had
217 international points of distribution open and operated by its eight franchise partners in 20 countries.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains or may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to statements relating to the Company’s strategic
initiatives and adjusted net income per diluted share. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by use of terms
such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “plan,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate” and similar words, although some
forward-looking statements are expressed differently. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company's current
expectations and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and performance to
differ materially. Some of these risks and uncertainties are described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including in the “Risk Factors” section of its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2018.
Included among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and performance to differ materially are the risk that
the Company will be unsuccessful in gauging fashion trends and changing consumer preferences, the risks resulting from the highly
competitive nature of the Company’s business and its dependence on consumer spending patterns, which may be affected by changes in
economic conditions, the risk that the Company’s strategic initiatives to increase sales and margin are delayed or do not result in
anticipated improvements, the risk of delays, interruptions and disruptions in the Company’s global supply chain, including
resulting from foreign sources of supply in less developed countries or more politically unstable countries, the risk that the cost
of raw materials or energy prices will increase beyond current expectations or that the Company is unable to offset cost increases
through value engineering or price increases, various types of litigation, including class action litigations brought under
consumer protection, employment, and privacy and information security laws and regulations, the imposition of regulations affecting
the importation of foreign-produced merchandise, including duties and tariffs, and the uncertainty of weather patterns. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. The
Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect
events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Contact: Anthony Attardo, CFA, Director, Investor Relations, (201) 453-6693