Retail group Frasers has announced a cash offer to acquire the entire issued share capital of Australian fashion and homewares group MySale.
Frasers, which is already the largest MySale shareholder at 28.7% and owns brands including House of Fraser and Sports Direct, is offering 2 pence per share, valuing the shares the group doesn’t currently hold at £13.6m.
Commenting on the offer, Frasers Group said: “Frasers Group is a long-established retailer operating with a diverse portfolio of sport, fitness, premium lifestyle and luxury goods in over 20 countries and operations in physical stores and e-commerce. It is accelerating its strategy to provide consumers with access to the world’s best sports, premium and luxury brands by providing a world-leading retail ecosystem.
“Frasers Group has extensive ambitions to grow its business outside of the UK and is exploring the potential for further international expansion through acquisitions, joint ventures and organic openings.
“Frasers Group has begun to expand its operational capabilities in Europe, with a new development site in Bitburg, Germany set to open in the coming years to support growth across continental Europe. Frasers Group is also continually innovating across its supply chain and logistics to drive further efficiencies.
“Its Shirebrook site is the biggest auto-store in Europe giving it significant operational efficiencies and support for the smooth integration of acquisitions into the Frasers Group platform, enabling both its owned brands and brand partners to benefit from its world-leading operations and logistics capabilities. The recently trialled new headless e-commerce platform on its Malaysian site will allow Frasers Group to be more agile when entering new territories or deploying changes to its technology stack once rolled out across Frasers Group.
“On 29 June 2022, Frasers Group acquired 270,666,650 MySale Shares and, together with the contracts for difference already held by it, increased its stake in MySale to 28.7% and became MySale’s largest shareholder. Consistent with its growth strategy, the Offer would allow Frasers Group to increase its presence in Australia and the surrounding regions at a faster rate than via organic growth.
“It also believes that the MySale business would be complementary to that of the existing Frasers Group (including providing the opportunity to clear end of line Frasers Group products via MySale’s established clearance channel). This pipeline will be further enhanced by the benefits of counter seasonality between the European and Australian climates.
“Through the combination of the resources available to Frasers Group and the capabilities of the MySale business, Frasers Group believes the Offer can accelerate Frasers Group’s global growth strategy, enhance its operational capabilities and its offering to consumers and provide a platform from which to explore further opportunities for investment in retail opportunities in Australia and the surrounding regions.”
