Skechers and Wolverine World Wide are reported to be interested in the possible acquisition of some of the assets of Collective Brands, such as Saucony, Stride Rite and Sperry Top-Sider. They are the best performing brands of the group, whose results have been dragged down by Payless ShoeSource, a big chain of shoe retail stores in the U.S. with a growing staple of foreign operations. KKR and other institutional investors are also reportedly looking at the group. Meanwhile, investors have launched a class action suit against Collective, claiming that its shares trade at artificially inflated prices due to false and misleading information with regard to Payless' sales and inventories. More in the next Shoe Intelligence.

Topics