Funds affiliated with Hellman & Friedman (“H&F”), a
premier global private equity firm, and At Home Group Inc. (“At
Home”), the home décor superstore, today announced that they have
completed a transaction in which H&F has acquired At Home in an
all-cash transaction that valued the company at $2.8 billion,
including the assumption of debt. With the completion of the
acquisition, At Home’s common stock ceased trading and the company
is no longer listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
“Hellman & Friedman takes great pride in partnering with
outstanding management teams to invest in highly differentiated
businesses with substantial room for growth. At Home fits that bill
perfectly,” said Erik Ragatz, Partner at H&F. “We believe the
unique shopping experience and compelling value At Home offers
consumers will position the Company to continue to grow and take
market share in the coming years, and we have great confidence in
the team at At Home to deliver on this potential.”
Lee Bird, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of At Home, said,
“This transaction will allow us to partner with H&F to help
continue our store expansion, grow our offering and strengthen our
position as the leading retailer of home décor. I’m thankful to all
our team members whose hard work has contributed to At Home’s
success and made this transaction possible. I am confident H&F
will help strengthen our business.”
Advisors
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as exclusive financial
advisor and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP was
legal counsel to the Special Committee. Guggenheim Securities, LLC
served as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
was legal counsel to Hellman & Friedman.
About At Home
At Home (NYSE: HOME), the home décor superstore, offers over
50,000 on-trend home products to fit any budget or style, from
furniture, mirrors, rugs, art and housewares to tabletop, patio and
seasonal decor. At Home is headquartered in Plano, Texas, and
currently operates 230 stores in 40 states. For more information,
please visit us online at investor.athome.com.
About Hellman & Friedman
Hellman & Friedman is a preeminent global private equity
firm with a distinctive investment approach focused on large-scale
equity investments in high quality growth businesses. H&F seeks
to partner with world-class management teams where its deep sector
expertise, long-term orientation and collaborative partnership
approach enable companies to flourish. H&F targets outstanding
businesses in select sectors including software & technology,
financial services, healthcare, consumer & retail, and other
business services. The firm is currently investing its tenth fund,
with over $24 billion of committed capital, and has over $80
billion in assets under management and committed capital. Learn
more about H&F’s defining investment philosophy and approach to
sustainable outcomes at www.hf.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains forward-looking statements made pursuant
to and within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can generally
identify forward-looking statements by the Company’s use of
forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” "are confident,"
"assume," “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,”
“intend,” “look ahead,” "look forward," “may,” “might,” "on track,"
"outlook," “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” "reaffirm," “seek,”
“should,” "trend," “will,” or “vision,” or the negative thereof or
comparable terminology regarding future events or conditions. The
forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based
upon the Company’s current expectations, beliefs, estimates and
projections, and various assumptions, many of which, by their
nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond its control. There can
be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates
and projections will be achieved and actual results may differ
materially from what is expressed in or indicated by the
forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are subject to significant known and
unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results,
performance or achievements in future periods to differ materially
from those assumed, projected or contemplated in the
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the
following factors: the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and related
challenges, risks and uncertainties, including historical and
potential future measures taken by governmental and regulatory
authorities (such as requiring store closures), which have
significantly disrupted the Company’s business, employees,
customers and global supply chain, and for a period of time,
adversely impacted its financial condition (including resulting in
goodwill impairment) and financial performance, and which
disruption and adverse impacts may continue in the future; the
recent and ongoing direct and indirect adverse impacts of the
global COVID-19 pandemic to the global economy and retail industry;
the eventual timing and duration of economic stabilization and
recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which depends largely on
future developments; general economic conditions in the United
States and globally, including consumer confidence and spending,
and any changes to current favorable macroeconomic trends of strong
home sales, nesting and de-urbanization (which were enhanced and
accelerated due to COVID-19, and may not continue upon a successful
vaccine rollout in significant numbers that impacts consumer
behavior); the Company’s indebtedness and its ability to increase
future leverage, as well as limitations on future sources of
liquidity, including debt covenant compliance; the Company’s
ability to implement its growth strategy of opening new stores,
which was suspended for fiscal 2021 (with the exception of stores
that were at or near completion) and, while ramping significantly,
will be limited in the near term; the Company’s ability to
effectively obtain, manage and allocate inventory, and satisfy
changing consumer preferences; increasing freight and
transportation costs (including the adverse effects of
international equipment shortages) and increasing commodity prices;
the Company’s reliance on third-party vendors for a significant
portion of its merchandise, including supply chain disruption
matters and international trade regulations (including tariffs)
that have, and may continue to, adversely impact many international
vendors; the loss or disruption to operating the Company’s
distribution network; significant competition in the fragmented
home décor industry, including increasing e-commerce; the
implementation and execution of the Company’s At Home 2.0 and
omnichannel strategies and related investments; natural disasters
and other adverse impacts on regions in the United States where the
Company has significant operations; the Company’s success in
obtaining favorable lease terms and of its sale-leaseback strategy;
the Company’s reliance on the continuing growth and utility of its
loyalty program; the Company ability to attract, develop and retain
employee talent and to manage labor costs; the disproportionate
impact of its seasonal sales activity to its overall results; risks
related to the loss or disruption of the Company’s information
systems and data and its ability to prevent or mitigate breaches of
its information security and the compromise of sensitive and
confidential data; the Company’s ability to comply with privacy and
other laws and regulations, including those associated with
entering new markets; and the significant volatility of the trading
price of the Company’s common stock; the possibility that the
Company may be unable to obtain required stockholder approval or
that other conditions to closing the proposed merger may not be
satisfied, such that the proposed merger will not close or that the
closing may be delayed; general economic conditions; the proposed
merger may involve unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; risks
that the transaction disrupts current plans and operations of the
Company; the outcome of any legal proceedings related to the
proposed merger; the occurrence of any event, change or other
circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger
agreement. For more details on these and other potential risks and
uncertainties, please refer to the proxy statement when filed and
the documents that the Company files with the SEC. You are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking
statements included herein, which speak only as of the date hereof
or the date otherwise specified herein. Except as required by law,
the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210723005380/en/
Hellman & Friedman Investor Relations: Scott Winter /
Arthur Crozier Innisfree M&A Incorporated (212) 750-5833 Media:
Winnie Lerner / Andrew Johnson Finsbury Glover Hering 917.375.5652
/ 914.497.5138 Winnie.Lerner@fgh.com / Andrew.Johnson@fgh.com At
Home Investor Relations: Arvind Bhatia, CFA 972.265.1299
ABhatia@AtHome.com Bethany Johns 972.265.1326 BJohns@AtHome.com
Additional Investors: Dan Burch MacKenzie Partners, Inc.
212-929-5748 dburch@mackenziepartners.com Jeanne Carr MacKenzie
Partners, Inc. 917.648.4478 jcarr@mackenziepartners.com
Media: Carey Marin 214.914.1157 MediaRelations@AtHome.com Or
Sharon Stern / Adam Pollack / Joseph Sala Joele Frank, Wilkinson
Brimmer Katcher 212.355.4449 Home-JF@joelefrank.com
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