Hours after Rent-A-Center ended its strategic review, the company said that it had received an increased offer letter from a potential suitor. But the party, which was not named, said that its letter “does not constitute an offer capable of being accepted or a binding agreement of any kind,” CNBC reported.
“The (offer) letter was not accompanied by equity commitment letters that would be necessary for the company to evaluate whether to enter into an agreement with an acquisition entity possessing no assets,” Rent-A-Center said.
On Sunday (June 10), the company said it had concluded a strategic review along with a potential sale of the firm. At the time, it had not seen any proposals that met its goals. But the company said it would seek to review opportunities and look for ways to cut costs, with plans to achieve approximately $70 million in savings this year.
The news comes after Rent-A-Center said at the end of 2016 that it had nearly completed a nationwide rollout of an end-to-end eCommerce solution. A majority of Rent-A-Center customers will now have the ability to complete transactions from desktop and mobile devices on the company’s website.
“eCommerce is attracting customers who appreciate the new option to shop and complete sales transactions online and then have products delivered to their homes,” CEO Robert Davis said in a press release at the time. “In fact, more than 70 percent of our online customers are shoppers who are either new to Rent-A-Center or who have not done business with us in over one year.”
Additionally, Rent-A-Center’s eCommerce solution enables shoppers to complete an online form to obtain rental pre-approval for items housed in any of the store’s 2,600 locations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico. Angela Yochem, CIO and EVP of information technology, had said, “So far, we’ve seen demand for the latest Sony and Microsoft gaming systems; Sony, LG and VIZIO TVs; Samsung smartphones; as well as laptops from ASUS and Toshiba.”
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