JD Williams owner N Brown agrees £191m takeover by founding Alliance family member

The Simply Be and JD Williams fashion retailer N Brown has agreed a £191m takeover by a member of its founding family, Joshua Alliance.

Alliance will pay 40p in cash for each share of N Brown stock not already owned by himself and his family.

Alliance, who is a non-executive director of N Brown, already owns 6.6% of N Brown, while the other members of the Alliance family – including the former executive chair Lord David Alliance, who built N Brown up since the 1960s – own a controlling 53.4% stake.

Mike Ashley’s Frasers, which owns 20.3% of N Brown, has said it will vote in favour of the deal for the group, which also owns the men’s fashion brand Jacamo.

Joshua Alliance said: “My family have been supporters of N Brown for over half a century, providing capital and having been involved in the strategic leadership of the business. I am delighted to continue that history.

“This transaction will support N Brown in accelerating its long-term growth potential and provide, where needed, access to additional capital, expertise and resource to accelerate the longer-term potential of the business.

“In the business’s current cycle of evolution, we will be able to achieve this growth potential more successfully away from the public markets.”

Falcon 24 Topco, the vehicle Alliance is using to buy N Brown, said it believes that “N Brown is not benefiting from being listed on the AIM market, whilst having to bear significant costs associated with its listing”.

It said that N Brown’s shareholder structure, “very low trading liquidity”, and the limited UK fund manager appetite for small cap consumer stocks meant it was not helped by the listing on London’s junior stock market.

N Brown employs about 1,700 people and is based in Manchester, England.