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Maybe St. John could use a little parental guidance.
The stodgy women’s power-suit brand, which was put on the block this spring as its business continues to unravel, has held merger talks with Escada — the German luxury label that had owned it nearly 20 years ago, The Post has learned.
Megha Mittal — the 35-year-old daughter-in-law of Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who scooped Escada out of bankruptcy in 2009 — recently flew to the West Coast to meet with execs at Irvine, Calif.-based St. John, sources said.
“It would be a kind of ‘Back to the Future’ situation,” according to a banking source, noting that Escada under previous ownership had taken St. John public in 1993, after acquiring it from the founding Gray family in 1989.
Other prospective bidders for St. John, owned by private-equity firm Vestar, include clothing company Jones Group and PE firm Lion Capital, which has made investments in American Apparel and John Varvatos.
Insiders said the company, formerly known as St. John Knits, could fetch as much as $300 million, which would amount to 10 times the company’s adjusted Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
“It’s an iconic brand that has a ton of untapped potential,” one banking source told The Post.
The label’s US-manufactured suits have been a Beltway staple with clients like Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright.
Nevertheless, one insider said there appears to have been “silence” between St. John and Escada since meeting about a month ago, and it’s unclear whether talks will continue.
St. John owns a California factory whose operating costs have hampered the turnaround efforts of Vestar, which took the company private in 1999 for $522 million.
St. John’s sales this year are expected to slide to $253.9 million from $269.5 million in 2011, according to documents obtained by The Post, which have been circulated by Rothschild, the investment bank that’s running the auction.
Those figures fall well short of the $355.4 million generated in 2007, and the firm’s Ebitda has been halved since then.
Facing an aging clientele whose ranks are dwindling, St. John shot itself in the foot six years ago when it tapped the sultry, sinewy movie star Angelina Jolie as its spokesmodel.
The high-priced hire turned off St. John’s buttoned-up customers while failing to attract younger shoppers.
Last fall, St. John hired actress Kate Winslet as its new face — a move that has failed to prop up slumping sales.
“The $1 [million] paid to Kate Winslet in 2012 will be reallocated to other advertising initiatives” in fiscal 2013, according to a presentation to prospective bidders.
Officials at Escada and Rothschild couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday. Vestar officials declined to comment.