Destination Maternity withdraws offer for U.K.’s Mothercraft

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. has stopped its pursuit of the United Kingdom’s Britain's Mothercare Plc chain after having two bid proposals rejected.



"We are disappointed that the shareholders of Mothercare have not supported our proposal and that the board of Mothercare was unwilling to allow us to conduct customary due diligence and engage in discussions," Destination Maternity CEO Ed Krell said in a statement on Friday. “We believe that there was a strong strategic rationale for the combination of these highly complementary businesses, which would have enhanced the product range of both companies, spanning the pregnancy to toddler life-cycle. We further believe the combination would have created a global leader in maternity, baby and children's apparel and products capable of accelerating the growth and long-term development of both businesses across channels and in markets around the world.”



On 2 July 2014, Destination Maternity confirmed its interest in a possible combination with Mothercare and confirmed its submission of two non-binding written proposals for a possible combination, both of which had been rejected by Mothercare.