Cherokee Makes Offer on Mossimo

Cherokee Inc., a Van Nuys licensor and brand management company, made an offer today to acquire all the outstanding shares of Mossimo Inc. for $8.50 per share with $6.00 per share to be paid in cash and the other $2.50 in stock. The company said its proposal represents an 8.8 percent premium to Mossimo’s closing share price on April 17, 2006, and a 13.3 percent premium to a previous offer by the Iconix Brand Group. The offer was approved by the Board of Directors of Cherokee and was forwarded to Mossimo Giannulli, Mossimo’s chairman of the board of directors and co-CEO and Edwin Lewis, vice chairman and co-CEO., Russell Riopelle, CFO of Cherokee, said the company’s balance sheet will allow it to raise the debt it needs to complete the purchase with favorable terms and still be able to pay dividends to its shareholders.