NEW YORK: Boards and the owners of retailers whose shares have been pummeled by US President Donald Trump’s trade war are increasingly warming to offers to sell, and to escape the market chaos that has caused company valuations to seesaw in recent months.

Following sneaker-maker Skechers’ take-private deal earlier this month, dealmakers expect other retailers to clinch their own agreements to go private in the near-term, especially if Trump does not soon settle on a more stable trade policy, according to interviews with 10 investment bankers and mergers and acquisitions lawyers.

Retailers, in particular, have been hard-hit by Trump’s rapidly shifting tariff announcements, and are frustrated with an inability to provide earnings guidance.

Skechers was in talks with investment firm 3G Capital long before its market value began a precipitous drop from an all-time high of around US$11.85bil on Jan 30 – the day before the White House announced its first round of tariffs against China – according to two people familiar with the matter.

The flood of tariff announcements beat the company’s value down to about US$7.4bil by the end of April.

Skechers, which manufactures most of its goods in China and Vietnam, pulled its 2025 earnings guidance around that time, citing “macroeconomic uncertainty stemming from global trade policies”.

Skechers is majority-owned by the Greenberg family.

The tariff turmoil made the idea of going private all the more attractive to the Greenbergs, said the sources, who asked not to be named because the negotiations were private.

The company announced plans on May 5 to sell to 3G Capital in a so-called take-private deal for about US$9.4bil.

Selling to a privately held firm like 3G removes the firm’s shares from public exchanges that shield its earnings from public scrutiny and protects its valuation from unpredictable market swings.

Skechers declined to comment. Other retailers are already in talks to sell to investment firms and other companies, the sources said.

“The breakneck pace of the instability, the volatility, and the macro changes have made board members start thinking, ‘Would it be better to manage this business in private where we don’t have to report out to the street with the same quarterly cadence and where we can control operational, financial, and capital allocation decisions in private’?” said Kurt Anthony, head of consumer and retail investment banking for the Americas at UBS.

Few industries have been hit harder by Trump’s tariffs than retailers, many of which manufacture most of their goods overseas and have had to pull earnings guidance amid fickle foreign policy.

After de-escalating his trade war, Trump last Friday levied fresh threats against Apple and the European Union, sending markets that had mostly recovered from his initial trade moves reeling once again.

The S&P Retail Select Industry index had fallen by 6% year-to-date as of last Friday’s market close, while the broader S&P 500 Index had fallen 1.1% in the same period.

“There are a lot of chief executive officers (CEOs) that reached out to me and said ‘I’m tired, I love what I do, but maybe it’s time I go private’,” said Jamie Salter, CEO of Authentic Brands Group.

The company, which owns the intellectual property of several apparel companies, including Reebok and Champion, acquired Dockers’ IP from Levi’s last week.

“I think you’re going to see good companies either stay private, or go private.” — Reuters