Christopher & Banks rejects buyout offer from Aria Partners; adopts poison pill

Minneapolis -- Christopher & Banks Corp. has rejected Aria Partners’ unsolicited $64 million takeover offer, saying it was not in the best interest of stockholders. The private equity firm owns 4% of Christopher & Banks shares. The retailer also adopted a stockholder rights plan, or poison pill, with a trigger at 15%



Private equity firm Aria owns 4% of Christopher & Banks shares.



Christopher & Banks has been trying to cut costs and boost profitability by closing underperforming stores as part of its strategic initiatives. Other priorities include reducing the number of styles and SKUs offered rebalancing the assortment toward more good and better product offerings with fewer best styles and improving inventory flow beginning with the September assortment by reducing the number of major floor sets by half.



In a statement, the company said the board has reaffirmed its commitment to its new management team’s strategic plan, which has already begun to demonstrate signs of progress.