Hot Topic Inc. has agreed to buy Geeknet Inc. for about $122
million, paying more than double the market value for the
"geek"-focused retailer.
The offer of $17.50 a share is a significant premium to
Geeknet's last closing price of $7.90 a share.
Geeknet is the parent company of online retailers ThinkGeek and
ThinkGeek Solutions, which sell an assortment of clothing, gadgets
and video game-themed merchandise targeted at geeks and
hackers.
Shares of Geeknet, halted premarket, have fallen about 41% in
the last 12 months.
Hot Topic agreed to be taken private by Sycamore Partners for
about $600 million in 2013. Hot Topic's namesake stores draw most
of their merchandising cues from music and pop culture. It has 650
stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Geeknet, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US36846Q2030
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires