Foot Locker Again Considering Putting Itself Up For Sale

Foot Locker is “once again considering putting itself up for sale, following the disappointing performance at its U.S. shoe stores and the failure to buy rival Genesco," according to Kapner & Kouwe of the N.Y. POST.  Sources said that the retailer has “turned to Lehman Brothers to advise it on a potential sale.”  But a source “cautioned that any discussions are in preliminary stages.  Financial books and other materials that typically signal a sale process is underway have not been sent to prospective suitors.”  Private equity firms -- including Apollo Management, which is “said to be considering an offer of $29 a share” -- are “sniffing around the retailer.”  Sources said that U.K.-based Sports World International’s Michael Ashley has also “expressed an interest in Foot Locker” (N.Y. POST, 7/19).  At presstime, shares of Foot Locker were trading at $23.01, up 10.04% from Wednesday's close of $20.91 (THE DAILY).