NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Retail sector holding company CSC Generation Inc wants to buy Bassett Furniture (BSET.O) for roughly $191 million and is offering a 27% premium to take the company private, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
CSC Generation, one of Bassett's top ten shareholders with a with a 2% stake at the end of June, made the offer to buy the home furnishings retailer for $21 a share in cash late last month.
"We believe transformation is needed at Bassett and that a successful outcome can only be executed as a private business with the additional resources of a digitally native owner," the letter said. CSC general counsel Elizabeth Brown wrote the letter dated Oct. 11 to the Bassett board.
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Bassett's share price has fallen roughly 10% in the last 52 weeks and has lost almost 60% of its value in the last five years, prompting CSC, whose brands include Sur La Table and One Kings Lane, to approach the company.
"We believe that the company's stock has traded at a substantial discount to its true value for the past four years and will continue to trade below its intrinsic value if it remains publicly listed," Brown added in the letter.
CSC has spent the last several months trying to engage with Bassett's board, Brown said in the letter.
A representative for Bassett was not immediately available for comment.
CSC Generation was founded six years ago by Justin Yoshimura and has used its digital capabilities and improved operations at store and catalog retailers to build methods of shopping that include online, in-store and phone purchases.
The investor is intent on receiving a fair evaluation of its offer and said it would "take any action necessary" to achieve its goal. Last month, it was rebuffed by smaller furniture company Flexsteel Industries (FLXS.O) , which it wanted to buy and whose stock price has tumbled more than 10% since the company announced plans to reject CSC.
Mergers and acquisition activity has slowed as financing conditions have tightened in the wake of high inflation, rising interest rates and a more uncertain outlook for growth. Global dealmaking slowed to 210 deals completed in the third quarter, compared with 264 deals in the same quarter a year ago, according to data from consulting firm Willis Towers Watson.
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