After a long period of declining sales, US retailer of leather outerwear, accessories and apparel Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc. has entered into a definitive securities purchase agreement for the sale, in a private placement, of a newly-created series of convertible preferred stock and warrants to purchase Wilsons Leather common stock. The securities will be issued to Goldner Hawn Private Equity, Peninsula Investment Partners and Quaker Capital Management Corporation. The financing will provide the company with $45 million in new equity before expenses, of which $35 million is being invested by Goldner Hawn. Wilsons intends to use the proceeds from the new shares for general working capital purposes and to pay fees related to the transaction. The transaction is subject to satisfaction of various closing conditions.

The preferred stock will initially be convertible into common stock at a price of $1.50 per share, which would result in the issuance of 30 million shares of common stock. The warrants will be exercisable for up to 15 million shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2 per share for five years following the closing.