Rue21 said yesterday that it would sell itself to Apax Partners for about $1.1 billion, including debt, as private-equity firms continue their pursuit of purveyors of fashion, the New York Times DealBook blog reported yesterday. Under the terms of the deal, Apax will pay $42 a share, 23 percent above the closing share price on Wednesday. In an unusual twist, one of rue21’s biggest shareholders is a buyout fund named SKM II, the last remnant of Saunders Karp & Megrue, which merged in 2005 with Apax. Under the terms of the transaction, a majority of shareholders apart from SKM, which owns a 30 percent stake, must vote to approve the Apax takeover.
