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Nordstrom board rejects founding family's bid

Nordstrom Inc.'s board of directors said March 5 that it has received and rejected an offer by members of the Nordstrom family to acquire the company.

The group that made the offer includes co-Presidents and Directors Blake Nordstrom, Peter Nordstrom and Erik Nordstrom; President of Stores and Executive Vice President James Nordstrom; Chairman Emeritus Bruce Nordstrom; and Anne Gittinger. The group's proposal included the purchase of all outstanding shares not already owned by the group, along with 21% of shares already owned by the family, for $50 per share in cash.

According to an amended ownership filing on March 5, the group's collective ownership stake in Nordstrom is 52,190,808 shares, or 31.3% of the company's outstanding common stock. In the filing, the family group said the $50-per-share price offered in its nonbinding letter represented a 24% premium to the company's June 7, 2017, common stock price — the shares' value prior to initial reports of the potential for a going-private transaction.

The board's special committee said it intends to end discussions unless the family group can "substantially improve the price it is proposing to pay."

The special committee is being advised by Centerview Partners LLC as its financial adviser and Sidley Austin LLP as legal counsel.

On Feb. 23, Bloomberg reported that the Nordstrom family group was finalizing plans to take the department store chain private.