Target to sell interest in credit card receivables
(Adds context, company comment)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Retailer Target Corp (TGT.N) said on Monday it struck a deal to sell a 47 percent interest in its credit card receivables to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) for an initial investment of $3.6 billion.
Some investors for months have been pressuring Target to make such a sale.
Hedge fund investor William Ackman in December said he had raised his stake to nearly 10 percent in addition to stock swaps and options and that Target needed to take steps to increase its share price.
Minneapolis-based Target is one of the last major U.S. retailers to have kept its credit assets. Dillard's Inc (DDS.N) sold its credit card subsidiary to GE Consumer Finance in 2004, and Sears, Roebuck (SHLD.O) and Circuit City Stores CC.N have made similar moves in recent years.
Target on Monday said the transaction should give it sufficient funds to implement its business plans, including previously announced capital investment and share repurchase activity, without the need to access term debt capital markets again this year.
The Minneapolis-based retailer said the transaction is expected to close before the end of May.
At closing, Target would sell an undivided interest in its credit card receivables to JPMorgan Chase for cash proceeds of about $3.6 billion. The interest would represent about 47 percent of the principal amount of Target's outstanding receivables at that time.
The company announced in September that it was considering selling an estimated $7 billion in credit-card assets, which included the Target Visa Card and Target Credit Card and other financial products.
Target Chief Financial Officer Doug Scovanner said the deal "provides significant liquidity to Target from a single source unrelated to debt capital markets," and an "appropriate sharing of the portfolio benefits and risks between Target and JPMorgan Chase."
It also marks the beginning of a long-term credit card relationship between Target and JP Morgan Chase.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Andre Grenon, Richard Chang)
