Just For Feet Says Thomas Lee to Invest $20 Million in Company
Bloomberg News
June 16, 1998, 3:10 p.m. PT
Just For Feet Says Thomas Lee to Invest $20 Million in Company
Birmingham, Alabama, June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Just For Feet
Inc. said investment firm Thomas H. Lee Co. will invest
$20 million in the athletic shoe retailer following its purchase
of rival Sneaker Stadium Inc.
Just For Feet earlier this month agreed to buy closely held
Sneaker Stadium, which is controlled by Lee, for an unspecified
amount and assume $43 million in debt. The amount of the
investment by the Boston firm headed by Thomas Lee was disclosed
in a regulatory filing today.
Sneaker Stadium, based in Edison, New Jersey, operates
38 superstores that sell sneakers and athletic clothing. The
purchase will give Just For Feet 226 company-owned superstores
and specialty stores and 59 franchised stores, and expand the
chain into the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions.
Lee will purchase 926,355 units valued at a total of
$20 million. Each unit consists of one share of Birmingham,
Alabama-based Just For Feet and a warrant to buy 0.997 of a share
for $21.59, according to its quarterly filing with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
Shares of Just For Feet today rose 21/32 to 24 29/32.
If Sneaker Stadium meets future financial goals, Just For
Feet will pay as much as $31 million to creditors on or after
April 30, 2002.
Lee bought its 49 percent stake in Sneaker Stadium in
January 1997. Lee, who turned a $900 million profit in the sale
of Snapple Beverage Co. to Quaker Oats Co., on Friday agreed to
invest as much as $155 million in struggling soft-drink maker
Cott Corp.
After the transaction, Lee will be able to name a member of
Just For Feet's board.
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