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Updated 4:40 p.m. EST Dec. 3
Almost everything has been looking up for Tapestry Inc. since its $8.5 billion deal to buy Capri Holdings fell through under pressure from an antitrust challenge by the Federal Trade Commission.
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Shares of the company have jumped 44.6 percent since the two sides agreed to move on in late October.
And now, debt watchdog Standard & Poor has raised its outlook on Tapestry’s credit to “stable” from “negative” and reaffirmed its BBB investment grade rating. That gives the company a little distance from junk bond territory one tier down the rating scale.
“We view the termination of the Capri merger as credit positive for Tapestry, given the additional debt and operational and integration risks that the transaction would have entailed,” S&P said.
Tapestry took on $6.1 billion in debt to close the deal and had to pay it back at a premium.
That has helped the company’s credit profile, but the push to buy Capri turned out to be an expensive enterprise — requiring bankers, lawyers, a payment to cover Capri’s expenses and lots of interest expense on that debt.
All told, the Capri deal that never was is on track to hit Tapestry with more than $450 million in pretax costs, including some that are expected to be registered in the upcoming quarter. That overall number includes:
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A $239.2 million hit to Tapestry’s net income over the last 15 months, covering interest as well as corporate expenses, offset by provisions for income taxes.
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The $45.1 million Tapestry paid Capri for expenses after the deal was terminated.
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And in the coming quarter, Tapestry expects to record pretax reductions to its net income of $57.1 million for the “unamortized portion of the related cash flow hedge losses, debt issuance costs and debt issuance discounts” as well as a $61.1 million “redemption premium” for paying back the debt early.
While Tapestry fought to keep hold of the deal, some analysts think the company lucked out given how sharply Capri’s business, especially Michael Kors, has fallen off over the past year.
Tapestry might not be getting the big top-line jolt of taking on the Capri businesses, but it is still in the midst of expanding Coach, turning around Kate Spade and, according to sources, considering a spin off of Stuart Weitzman.
“Despite our anticipation for flat demand in 2025 and ongoing investments in Kate Spade and its digital channels, we expect Tapestry will generate free operating cash flow of more than $850 million annually over the next two years,” S&P said. “Furthermore, we anticipate the company will undertake capital expenditure of approximately $200 million annually over the same period to support its fulfillment operations and store renovations.”