New York, NY, Jun. 9--Target Corp. may announce this week that it is selling its Marshall Field's department-store chain to either Federated Department Stores or May Department Stores, according to an analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc.
"We think it's 50/50 whether Marshall Field's will go to May or Federated, with a potential deal by the end of the week and possibly as early as today," A.G. Edwards analyst Robert Buchanan wrote in a Tuesday research note.
Buchanan said he previously had expected an announcement to sell the chain would come in early July, but has changed his forecast citing unnamed sources. Buchanan reiterated his view that the purchase price for Marshall Field's and its 62 stores will be between $2.5 billion and $3 billion.
"We believe both May and Federated want Marshall Field's, but perhaps May wants it a bit more at this point in time since it is losing the 'size war' to Federated," Buchanan said.
Neither Target nor Federated could be immediately reached for comment. A May spokeswoman declined to comment.
A.G. Edwards doesn't have an investment-banking relationship with the three companies.
