Australian buying into Briscoes

By SIMON HENDERY retail writer

Australian retail guru Gerry Harvey is buying a slice of New Zealand retail chains Briscoes and Rebel Sport in one of the few sharemarket floats to go ahead this year.

The privately owned Briscoe Group put its $40 million float on hold after September's terrorist attacks in the United States sent global markets into a spin.

Managing director Rod Duke said the group was confident the timing was now right, as markets had since bounced back.

Mr Duke's RA Duke Trust at present owns all of the shares in the Briscoe Group.

It will sell 5.25 million shares to Mr Harvey and another 5.25 million to the company he chairs, Harvey Norman Holdings, in a deal worth $10.5 million.

Each stake will represent 2.5 per cent of the company's shares after the float and Mr Harvey will sit on the Briscoe board.

"Gerry is arguably the best retailer in Australasia," Mr Duke said. "He commands a great deal of mana and a great deal of respect."

Briscoe is issuing 40 million $1 shares in the float. There will be no public pool.

Of the new shares, 35 million will be offered through lead broker JBWere and other brokers, and five million will be allocated to directors, employees and business associates of the group.

The Duke trust will dilute its stake to 75 per cent.

Briscoe expects to have offer documents registered by November 22 and to close the issue on December 12.

Of the money raised in the float, $13 million will be used to complete a revamp of the 28-store Briscoes chain, and a 10-store expansion of the 11-store Rebel Sport chain.

A further $9 million will be used to repay a shareholder loan.

Mr Duke said 10 new Rebel stores would be built over the next three years and the remaining funds would be available for the group to buy or bring into New Zealand a new chain of stores to complement its existing chains.

Harvey Norman gained a 55 per cent stake in Rebel Sport Australia in July after launching a $A52 million takeover bid in April.

Briscoe owns the rights to use the Rebel Sport name in New Zealand.