Destination Maternity Plummets Toward Record Low After Merger Deal Terminated

Shares of Destination Maternity Corp. plummeted 38% toward a record low in early trade Friday, enough to be the biggest decliners on the Nasdaq exchange, after the maternity apparel seller said the deal to be acquired by France-based Orchestra-Premaman SA has been terminated. The company said the deal was terminated given the difficulties of satisfying regulators in France and the U.S., and given the uncertainty over whether regulatory requirements could be satisfied without unreasonable effort and expense. The companies had announced on Dec. 20, 2016 that Orchestra-Premaman would buy Destination Maternity for an implied price of $7.05 a share, which represented just a 0.4% premium to the Dec. 19 closing price. The stock had tumbled 58% since the merger announcement through Thursday, while the S&P 500 had climbed 9.4%.