David’s Bridal plans to separate its Pearl division, with Pearl turning into an impartial public firm providing a digital marriage ceremony planning, media and commerce platform, the corporate mentioned in a Thursday (Oct. 22) press release.
To allow this alteration, David’s Bridal and particular objective acquisition firm (SPAC) Okay&F Growth Acquisition Corp. II have entered right into a non-binding letter of intent concerning a proposed enterprise mixture that might make Pearl a standalone, publicly traded firm, in accordance to the discharge.
The non-binding letter of intent entails David’s Bridal separating Pearl right into a standalone enterprise that can enter right into a enterprise mixture with Okay&F and values Pearl at a professional forma enterprise worth of about $350 million, the discharge mentioned.
David’s Bridal and Okay&F count on to shut the proposed transaction in the primary half of 2027, although they make no assurances that will probably be consummated in any respect, per the discharge.
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David’s Bridal retail shops will stay unaffected by the deliberate separation and can function as typical. David’s Bridal is predicted to stay a cloth shareholder in Pearl, the discharge mentioned.
Pearl is predicted to be led by Kelly Cook as its CEO and Elina Vilk as its president following the proposed enterprise mixture. Cook is at present CEO of David’s Bridal and has been with the corporate since 2019. Vilk is at present president and chief enterprise officer of David’s Bridal and has been with the agency since 2024, per the discharge.
Cook mentioned in the discharge: “Pearl is shaping the next generation of wedding planning, and this next step will give both businesses room to grow independently while continuing to strengthen each other. With Pearl’s agentic technology and proven business models, combined with David’s Bridal’s strong brand and retail presence, we see tremendous opportunities to help more couples plan their weddings and connect with vendors who can bring their visions to life.”
Dan Fetters, co-CEO of Okay&F, mentioned in the discharge: “We were drawn to Pearl’s compelling trifecta of established profitability, highly attractive growth potential and unlevered pristine balance sheet, which, in combination, we believe will create substantial public shareholder value.”
Edward King, co-CEO of Okay&F, mentioned: “We look forward to partnering with Kelly, Elina and the Pearl team and believe our capital markets and [mergers and acquisitions] expertise will help accelerate Pearl’s growth.”
David’s Bridal launched Pearl Connect, an AI-powered platform linked to Pearl Planner, its client marriage ceremony planning platform, in September to join native enterprise and {couples} who’re planning weddings, Vilk informed PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster in an interview posted in September.
According to the Thursday press launch, Pearl’s ecosystem contains these two choices in addition to Pearl’s Digital Content Network.
