Children's Place ex-CEO says could bid for company

(Reuters) - Children's Place Retail Stores Inc (PLCE.O: Quote, Profile, Research) former Chief Executive Ezra Dabah said on Thursday he was confident he could make a bid to buy the company for $24 a share, sending its shares up 18 percent in pre-market trading.

The $24 price would represent a 35 percent premium to the closing price of Children's Place shares on Wednesday. Dabah said he had received interest from private equity firm Golden Gate Capital to be a participant in the deal.

Dabah, who said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that he owns 17.2 percent of the children's clothing retailer's shares, resigned as CEO last September after an internal probe found he did not comply with the company's securities-trading policies.

The SEC filing comes the same day that Children's Place said its sales at stores open at least a year rose a better-than-expected 6 percent in January.

Wall Street on average had been expecting a same-store sales gain of 2.5 percent, according to Reuters Estimates.

Same-store sales rose 9 percent at the Children's Place brand and 2 percent at the company's Disney Store chain.

Children's Place also said it has been notified by Nasdaq that its stock was subject to delisting because of its failure to hold its fiscal 2006 annual meeting by February 3.

Last September, the company said its board was evaluating strategic options -- including a potential reorganization or an outright sale.

 

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