Posts Tagged ‘Retail’

    • ASX Company News: GoConnect Enters JV Agreement With Swish Group

    Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

    GoConnect Ltd (GCN) is pleased to announce it has signed an advertising representation agreement with The Swish Group Ltd (SWG) to form one of the largest online music destinations in Australia.  From December 2010, GoConnect will represent Swish’s online properties: Mp3.com.au (www .mp3.com.au), NiceShorts (www .niceshorts.com.au) and TheScene (www .thescene.com.au) and include them in GoConnect’s fast growing online media sales network.

    On July 1, 2010, GoConnect merged with Undercover and PLW Entertainment to form Australia’s largest independent music entertainment company. The GoConnect Music Network includes Undercover (www.undercover.fm), uctv.fm (www .uctv.fm), Soundcheck (www .soundcheck.com.au), PLW artist sites for Trinity, Art of Wor, Goodbye Motel, Sam Clark and Engelbert Humperdinck and live music site Moshcam (www .moshcam.com). Together with the Swish properties, the GoConnect Music Network will become one of the largest online music destinations in Australia and be better placed to maximise revenues for both partners by targeting the advertising industry with a combined audience in excess of 600,000 unique visitors per month.

    “Swish recently announced its intention to further focus its operations around Online Advertising,” said Dean Jones, managing Director of The Swish Group Limited. “This partnership with GoConnect will allow Swish to both continue to develop its own online advertising businesses and technologies while enjoying the benefits that should flow from the formation of this major new music network”.  “We are extremely excited to have Mp3.com.au, TheScene.com.au and NiceShorts.com.au join the GoConnect Music Network and with it bring a new dimension of music content to our audience and increased value to the advertiser,” said GoConnect Director and Undercover founder Paul Cashmere. “The Swish music sites are complementary to our existing network of sites and will help improve revenues for both partners with a substantially larger audience reach for the advertiser”.

    www.goconnect.com.au

    www.swishgroup.com.au

    http://www.traderdealer.com.au/Fundamentals/gcn

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    ASX Company News: Billabong Acquires Surf Dive ‘n’ Ski and Jetty Surf

    Monday, October 4th, 2010

    Billabong International Limited (BBG)  announced it has reached conditional agreement to acquire a portfolio of Australian retail assets  from the General Pants Group and associated parties. The 38 retail stores comprise the Surf Dive ‘n’ Ski (SDS) and Jetty Surf retail banners, along with two licensed Billabong stores.

    Billabong chief executive officer Derek O’Neill said the acquisition brought together two businesses with a strong heritage in the surf and wider boardsports sector. “SDS was one of Billabong’s earliest retail customers so we have had a strong working relationship over many decades,” said Mr O’Neill.  “We entered acquisition discussions with the view to preserving the assets as core boardsport retail doors and ensuring a route to market for the Group’s strong portfolio of brands.”  Mr O’Neill said the planned acquisition would strengthen Billabong’s retail business in Australasia, a region that already delivers the Group’s strongest retail EBITDA margins. “There is good retail experience in the SDS and Jetty Surf businesses and this will complement what is already a strong retail management team in Australia,” he said. “The acquisition presents the opportunity to extract significant synergies in areas including warehousing, distribution, back-office support and overall retail management consolidation.

    www.billabong.com.au

    http://www.traderdealer.com.au/Fundamentals/bbg

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    ASX Company News: Crane Group Acquires Hudson Building Supplies

    Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

    Crane Group Limited (CRG) announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Hudson Building Supplies Pty Limited. Hudson is a major supplier of timber and hardware to the building industry through its network of 15 branches in NSW and South East Qld. With a sales turnover of $107 million it is a highly complementary and attractive bolt on acquisition for Crane Group’s Trade Distribution business.

    This acquisition combined with the Crane Group’s existing H&L building supplies store network will position Crane Group as a market leading builders’ hardware supplier. The total consideration for the business is $31.5 million and the acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive for the 2012 financial year. The acquisition will be funded from existing debt facilities.

    www.crane.com.au

    http://www.traderdealer.com.au/Fundamentals/crg

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    ASX Company News: Headline Group Acquires Babies Galore

    Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

    Headline Group (HLD) has acquired for $8.8M (plus contingent liabilities of $1M) the operating assets of the Babies Galore business, and will take over up to 13 of the Babies Galore stores that historically have generated approximately $35M in revenue. The assets acquired in the transaction are inventory, and store fixtures and fittings. In addition, HLD will access the 70,000 strong customer database and the Babies Galore online technology assets.

    The acquisition of the Babies Galore assets accelerates the rollout of the Mothercare and Early Learning Centre brands to a national footprint in Australia. HLD will invest to re-fit the Babies Galore stores it acquires, and will convert the majority of these locations to Mothercare parenting centres over the next 18 months. Mothercare’s exclusive product range will be introduced to the stores as they are converted. The positive margin impact of introducing the higher margin Mothercare product will be earned once the stores have been rebranded. This transaction will take HLD to an estimated annual turnover run rate of between $90M and $100M for this 2010/11 financial year. This results in HLD (trading as Mothercare Australia) becoming a leading player in the specialist parent and baby retail category.

    The HLD board believes MFC will add significant value as a strategic investor and board representative. HLD will benefit from MFC’s extensive retail management experience and property expertise in the retail sector. The Babies Galore asset acquisition accelerates the expansion of Mothercare and Early Learning Centre to a national footprint. The transaction enables Mothercare to quickly position itself as a leading player in Australia. We will anticipate revenue to accelerate beyond $100 Million in the following financial year as a result of the acquisition, and the Mothercare new store openings.

    www.headlinegroup.com.au

    http://www.traderdealer.com.au/Fundamentals/hld

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    ASX Company News: Headline Sells Skansens KCG’s Giftware Business

    Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

    The Headline (HLD) Board of Directors are pleased to announce the sale of Skansen KCG’s Giftware business to ZooSkyMedia Pty. Ltd. The agreed sale price is $2.5 million, with $2 million coming upfront and $0.5 million paid based on business achieving budget revenue targets.  The transfer date of the business will be September 1st.

    As a result of HLD being clearly focused on the roll out of its Mothercare and ELC retail concepts, the BK and wholesale operations no longer form part of HLD’s core business.  Since October when HLD acquired the controlling interest in Kids Central, HLD’s emphasis has been establishing the platform to take Mothercare in Australia to a national footprint.  Hence the decision to exit the wholesale activities.  The capital surrently employed in this division may be utilized to launch 4 new large format Mothercare stores.

    www.headlinegroup.com.au

    http://www.traderdealer.com.au/Fundamentals/hld

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    ASX Company News: 3Q Holdings Secures Harvey Norman POS Contract

    Monday, August 30th, 2010

    The Board of 3Q Holdings Limited (THQ) is delighted to announce that the Company has signed agreements with Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (HVN) for the supply and implementation of the AdvanceRetail point of sale (POS) solution. The AdvanceRetail POS system will be deployed to Harvey Norman retail stores in Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The initial contracts cover software licences, support and system design consultancy services and are worth in excess of $2 million (some part of which is already work in hand), with further work on solution build, test and deployment phases over the following two years.

    Commenting on the signing, 3Q Chairman Shaun Rosen said “The Harvey Norman brand is a household name in Australia and New Zealand, and we are thrilled that they have selected our             AdvanceRetail POS solution. To be chosen as the POS system for such a prestigious international operation is further testament to the effort invested by the team in building a market leading product, and the quality of the overall solution. We look forward to working with Harvey Norman in the coming years as we implement a quality solution in a great retail company.”

    3Q Holdings Limited (TQH) originally acquired 100% of QQQ Systems, a software company that provides software applications to the retail industry in Australia and New Zealand – with both point of sale (POS) and head office solutions into a wide range of retail clients operating in the fashion, electronics, furniture, general merchandise and discount variety industries. In March 2006 the company acquired the San Diego based Applied Retail Solutions business (ARS). The company has a range of strategic alliances through which the Company takes its products and services to market, including industry leaders that include SAP, Microsoft and IBM.

    www.threeq.com.au

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    ASX Company News: David Jones Extends Karrinyup Lease By 20 Years

    Saturday, July 17th, 2010

    David Jones Limited (DJS) today announced that it has entered into a new 20-year agreement for lease (AFL) with AMP Capital for its Karrinyup (WA) store. The existing Karrinyup lease expires on 16 September 2013. The Karrinyup Shopping Centre (which is managed by AMP Capital) serves a main trade catchment of 195,000 people with average household income of $83,989 p.a. in line with that of Chadstone (Vic) and Southland (Vic), two of their best performing suburban stores.

    David Jones currently operates a ~9,500 square metre store in the Karrinyup centre. The centre also contains a ~14,000 square metre Myer store. The David Jones Karrinyup store under performs against the David Jones benchmark for similar catchments due to its restricted space and limited brand offering. To capitalise on the opportunities available in the Karrinyup catchment David Jones would like to expand its existing store to a full line ~13,000 to ~14,000 square metre department store. This would improve David Jones’ competitive positioning relative to Myer and maximise sales and profit in a proven, established two department store centre.

    The AFL is on attractive commercial terms in line with the more favourable David Jones leases, meets all the Company’s required KPIs and delivers to David Jones at least a 30% increase in trading space from its existing floor space of ~9,500 square metres to ~13,000 square metres.  AMP Capital and David Jones are working together with a view to ensure that the expanded ~13,000 square metres store is completed and handed over by 17 September 2013. As part of the FY09 – 12 Strategic Plan David Jones identified Perth as a region with significant growth opportunity for the Company with Department Store penetration in Perth low at 7%, given the Australian average of 11.1% in other metropolitan regions where David Jones operates stores. Added to this, Perth is projected to be the fastest growth department store type merchandise (DSTM) market, with growth estimated at 5.6% per annum in future years. Within Perth the northern region has the highest growth potential and most attractive demographics. Population in the northern region of Perth is approximately 530,000 and is growing at 3.1% p.a.

    David Jones CEO Paul Zahra said, “In light of these factors Northern Perth has been identified as a target area with significant growth potential for David Jones. “This has effectively enabled us to lock-in a dominant position in the high value, high growth northern Perth region,’ Mr Zahra said.

    www.davidjones.com.au

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    ASX Company News: Harvey Norman Buys Clive Peeters Stores

    Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

    The receivers and managers of Clive Peeters, Phil Carter and Daniel Bryant of PPB announced the sale of the majority of stores in the Clive Peeters network to a subsidiary of Harvey Norman (HVN).  Details of the stores included in the sale are still being finalized and PPB expects to be in a position to announce the number and location of the stores included in the sale by the middle of next week, when the transaction is expected to be complete.

    HVN has agreed to purchase certain stock and plant and equipment located at certain of the locations, know-how, intellectual property rights and systems of the Vendors, for an aggregate purchase consideration of approximately $55million, subject to terms and conditions.

    Phil Carter of PPB said “we are very pleased to deliver a timely outcome with the sale of the majority of stores to a successful and well established retailer.  We will be working closely with Harvey Norman in the next few days to finalise arrangements, and will be able to provide further details upon completion of the sale next week.”

    “Under the terms of the sale Harvey Norman has agreed to provide continued employment to the vast majority of the very loyal Clive Peeters and Rick Hart employees.  We look forward to being in a position next week to confirm the sale arrangements.”

    www.harveynorman.com.au

    http://www.traderdealer.com.au/Fundamentals/hvn

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    ASX Company News: Metcash Acquires Franklins Supermarkets

    Friday, July 2nd, 2010

    Australia’s largest independent grocery and liquor wholesaler, Metcash Trading Limited, announced it will acquire the Franklins chain of 85 supermarkets, comprising 77 corporate stores plus supply to 8 franchised stores. Metcash has today entered into an agreement with Pick n Pay Retailers (Pty) Limited of South Africa to acquire the shares of Interfrank Group Holdings Pty Ltd, the company which owns the Franklins business, from Pick n Pay for a consideration of approximately $215 million, to be paid on completion – expected by 30 September, 2010. In keeping with its core value of championing its independent retailer customers, Metcash proposes to implement a store sale program upon completion to sell the stores to independent IGA retailers. Metcash will operate the stores in the intervening period whilst the store sale program is completed, which could take several months.

    Metcash Chief Executive, Mr Andrew Reitzer, said “The IGA network will significantly improve its competitive position against the national chains in Australia’s largest grocery market, NSW, while growing the market share of Metcash supplied retailers in the state from 11 per cent to 17 per cent. “Metcash expects the independent retailers who purchase the stores will lift each store’s performance through the successful combination of their own retailing expertise and through utilising the strength, services and support provided by Metcash; especially our national buying power, world class supply chain and marketing and merchandising programs. These stores will be able to take advantage of our favourable arrangements with suppliers to achieve more competitive pricing deals. Consumers and independent retailers in NSW are big winners from this deal,” he added.

    The acquisition is expected to add more than $500 million per annum of wholesale sales to Metcash’s business. The uplift in the first full year after selling the stores is expected to be between 1.5 cents and 2.0 cents per share. The transaction is subject to, among other things, ACCC approval and will be funded from existing Metcash bank facilities.

    www.metcash.com

    http://www.traderdealer.com.au/Fundamentals/mts

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    ASX Company News: Billabong Acquires Canadian West 49

    Thursday, July 1st, 2010

    Billabong International Limited (BBG)  announced it has entered into a definitive acquisition agreement with West 49 Inc, pursuant to which Billabong will acquire West 49 for C$1.30 (A$1.451) per share,  for an enterprise value of approximately C$99.0 million (A$110.4 million)2. West 49, a TSX listed company, is a leading Canadian specialty retailer of apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment related to the youth action sports lifestyle. The acquisition of West 49, one of Billabong’s existing retail partners in Canada, is expected to be EPS accretive in FY2011 and is an important step in Billabong’s strategic evolution.

    The acquisition increases the availability of Billabong’s brands in the key action sports market of Canada, provides the ability to increase wholesale throughput of Billabong’s existing brands via an expanded retail network, increases Billabong’s participation in an important distribution channel including providing greater influence over the store environment and brand image presented to consumers, provides the opportunity to expand on West 49’s current platform to enhance premium action sports retailing in the Canadian market, provides North American retail expertise and efficiencies for Billabong’s expanded retail network, enhances retail presence providing Billabong with faster feedback on consumer trends and the ability to test product, provides increased branding opportunities, and broadens Billabong’s retail portfolio to better target key Canadian demographics via West 49’s banners.

    Billabong Chief Executive Officer Derek O’Neill said the introduction of the West 49 banners into the Billabong stable will increase the penetration of Billabong’s brands within the Canadian market. “West 49 is a complementary business and promises to be an ideal Canadian distribution platform for Billabong to showcase its brands and extend its reach to the end consumer.” Billabong North America General Manager Paul Naude said that West 49 had an excellent understanding of the Canadian market and had positioned its banners to address specific market demographics and needs.

    The purchase price represents an enterprise value of C$99.0 million (A$110.4 million) based on a fully diluted equity value of approximately C$90.2 million (A$100.6 million) and net debt of C$8.8 million (A$9.8 million) as of 30 April 2010. The transaction will be funded from Billabong’s existing debt facilities. The offer represents an FY2011 EBITDA multiple of 10.4x based on consensus EBITDA forecasts. The acquisition is expected to be earnings per share accretive in FY2011 and acquisition ROCE is expected to exceed Billabong’s pre-tax WACC in FY2012.

    West 49 Inc. is a leading Canadian specialty retailer of fashion apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment related to the youth action sports lifestyle. West 49’s stores, which are primarily mall- based, carry a variety of high performance, premium brand name and private label products that fulfil the lifestyle needs of identified target markets, primarily tweens and teens.  The Company operated 138 stores in nine provinces, under the banners West 49, D-Tox, Off The Wall, Amnesia/Arsenic and Billabong.

    www.billabongbiz.com.au

    http://www.traderdealer.com.au/Fundamentals/bbg

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