Celebrate Express explores strategic options
Celebrate Express Inc. has retained an investment banking firm to help the company explore various strategic options, including a possible sale.
Celebrate Express, No. 173 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites , has retained Cowen and Company LLC , a New York City investment banking firm, to look over various strategic alternatives. The company also has named Kenneth H. Shubin Stein and Stephen Roseman to the board of directors. "I look forward to working with Ken and Stephen as board members and discussing their views on enhancing shareholder value,” says Celebrate Express CEO Kevin Green.
The last year has been one of adjustment for Celebrate Express, a manufacturer, cataloger and web retailer of children’s party supplies and related merchandise. In May Celebrate Express named former Lillian Vernon president Kevin Green to be its new top executive. He replaced former CEO Mike Jewell who left the company in February. The company is also looking to achieve better operating results because of higher fulfillment costs related to the transition to a new and more automated order picking process.
For its just-concluded 2006 fiscal year, e-commerce sales rose 49% to $60.3 million from $41.4 million in fiscal 2005. But the company also reported a substantial drop in net income. For 2006, Celebrate Express posted net income of $405,000 on net sales of $87 million, compared with net income of $2.5 million on net sales of $69.1 million.
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