Private equity firm buys Fort Myers retailer Chico's for $1 billion

Fort Myers-based women’s retailer Chico’s FAS, after a tumultuous four-year period that included three CEOs, multiple reinventions of its customer approach and product assortment and the fending off of at least one potential hostile takeover attempt, has a new exit strategy: being acquired by a private equity firm. 

The company, with $2.14 billion in revenue in fiscal 2023, has entered into a purchase agreement with New York-based Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm specializing in retail, consumer and distribution-related investments. The deal, according to a Sept. 28 statement, is for $1 billion, or $7.60 per share in cash. That represents a 65% premium to the company's closing stock price of $4.61 Sept. 27. The stock, in addition, has fallen 6.3% year to date, according to Morningstar, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 11%.