With the sale of Mayors Jewelers, Birks Group is looking to use the US$108 million from the sale to pay off their outstanding debt that they’ve accumulated with other facilities.
As a result, Birks will take on a new credit facility with Wells Fargo by October 2022.
“We are very pleased to have entered into this new credit facility with Wells Fargo after successfully deleveraging our balance sheet as a result of the sale of Mayors on October 23, 2017. This new five-year credit facility will provide Birks with a borrowing capacity with terms that are more favourable than its previous credit facilities,” said CEO of Birks Jean-Christophe Bédos. “The new senior credit facility will allow us to continue to implement development strategies to generate sales growth and improve profitability.”
With these new strategies, Birks hopes to renovate flagship stores across Canada, improve their online sales, and accomplish new goals by experimenting with new store concepts—some of which include introducing the French jewellery brand Chaumet into North America via its flagship stores in Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montréal.
Commenting on the exciting venture into the North American market, CEO of Chaumet Jean-Marc Mansvelt states: “For our North American entry, it was important for us to find a partner that aligned with our values as a brand and that caters to a customer base with similar preferences as ours. With its longstanding reputation of quality and elegance, Birks was an obvious choice.”
