Zale Corporation’s $1.4 Billion Acquisition by Signet Jewelers

On February 19, 2014, Signet Jewelers Limited, the largest specialty retail jeweler in the U.S. and the UK, and Zale Corporation, a leading specialty retailer of fine jewelry in North America, announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Signet to acquire all of the issued and outstanding stock of Zale for $21.00 per share in cash consideration, representing an enterprise value of approximately US$1.4 billion. Cravath represented Zale in connection with this transaction, which is subject to Zale stockholder approval, certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

The Cravath team included partner Ting S. Chen and associates Amanda R. Fenster, Christopher K. Couvelier and Jennifer L. Tanaka on M&A matters; partner Eric W. Hilfers and associates Jarrett R. Hoffman and Amy C. Benford on executive compensation and benefits matters; partner J. Leonard Teti II and associate Neetin Gulati on tax matters; partner Matthew Morreale on environmental matters; senior attorney John Gerhard on real estate matters; partner David J. Kappos and associate Benjamin D. Landry on intellectual property matters; and partner Christine A. Varney and associate Margaret Segall D’Amico on antitrust matters. Andrew K. Jennings also worked on M&A matters.