L Brands said Tuesday it will spin off its Victoria’s Secret brand rather than selling it.
The company said it received interest from and held discussions with multiple potential buyers, but its board concluded that separating Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works into two separate publicly traded companies would be a better option. The spinoff is expected to be completed by August.
L Brands Chief Executive Andrew Meslow will continue to hold his position and will also lead Bath & Body Works following the spinoff, the company said. Victoria’s Secret CEO Martin Waters will keep leading the standalone business following the separation.
“In the last ten months, we have made significant progress in the turnaround of the Victoria’s Secret business,” Sarah Nash, chair of L Brands’ board, said in a statement.
L Brands shares fell around 3% in premarket trading.
The company also on Tuesday released preliminary first-quarter financial results.
L Brands said it expects to earn $1.25 per share after adjustments in the period ended May 1, compared with a prior outlook of 85 cents to $1 per share. Net sales are estimated at $3.02 billion, compared with $1.65 billion a year earlier.
Analysts had been anticipating L Brands would earn 98 cents per share on revenue of $2.89 billion, according to a Refinitiv survey.
The company cited stronger sales and profits at both of its brands for the improved results. It said stimulus payments and relaxed Covid-related restrictions has helped stir up shopper traffic at malls.
Since this past holiday season, L Brands’ management team has called out growing momentum at Victoria’s Secret. The company has already boosted its profit outlook for the first quarter twice, citing heightened shopper demand for its lingerie and loungewear.
Analysts at Citi and JPMorgan had recently valued Victoria’s Secret at about $5 billion as a standalone business.
L Brands restarted talks with potential buyers for Victoria’s Secret after a sale to the private equity firm Sycamore Partners fell apart last year due to the Covid pandemic. That deal would have valued the lingerie label at $1.1 billion.
Sycamore sued L Brands last April to terminate a deal that would have given the private equity firm 55% control of Victoria’s Secret, for around $525 million. It argued that L Brands had violated the terms of the agreement, when it failed to pay rent and furloughed workers. L Brands averted a legal battle by agreeing to call off the deal.
The plans for the split were first reported in The New York Times.
L Brands shares are up about 84% year to date. It has a market cap of $19.2 billion.
