Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Waterford Wedgwood’s new owner KPS has been pipped at the post in its bid to buy bankrupt US tableware giant Lenox – by Clarion Capital Partners.
Private equity firms KPS and Clarion each mounted bids for Waterford Wedgwood and Lenox, and it was reported in the international press and on HousewaresLive.net last month that KPS had pulled off the Lenox deal.
However, it has now emerged that Clarion has in fact emerged triumphant in the bankruptcy auction to acquire Lenox’s assets and brands including Lenox, Dansk and Gorham. KPS, meanwhile, won the Waterford Wedgwood bid.
KPS reportedly pulled out of the Lenox bidding when the terms of the deal changed, saying it did not want to buy all of Lenox’s assets.
In a further twist, former Waterford Wedgwood CEO Peter Cameron is to become the new CEO of Lenox. Cameron resigned from Waterford Wedgwood a year ago.
