Mountain Buggy bought by fellow Kiwi buggy maker

Mountain Buggy featured on a series of stamps celebrating NZ innovation last year/ Photo supplied.

Baby buggy maker phil&teds has bought its former competitor Mountain Buggy.

Phil&teds, which designs buggies in Wellington and makes them in China to be sold around the world, announced today it had paid an undisclosed price for the smaller Lower Hutt-based business Tritec, which makes Mountain Buggies and employs 83 people.

Tritec went into receivership this year with debts of about $22 million. It blamed international downturn for its problems and had suffered as 90 per cent of its product was exported.

Phil&teds said the purchase would mean "business as usual" for Mountain Buggy for the next six months, and stressed taking manufacturing offshore was not part of its philosophy.

The sale did not require Commerce Commission approval.

Phil&teds has more than US$150 million ($270 million) in retail sales around the world while Tritec had a turnover of about $30m.

The investment was a way to retain the company with local ownership, rather than a "takeover", said phil&teds chief executive Campbell Gower.

"We've had to move quickly. Mountain Buggy are a great Kiwi brand with a fabulous product set, a bunch of very clever people, and obvious synergies to our own," he said.

"We're incredibly excited about adding value and building the business even further.

"There's a lot we don't know, and a lot we feel we can learn from Mountain Buggy. For example, their world class manufacturing programme is compelling. They have some very talented people - we want to unleash their expertise."

Phil&teds recently bought New Zealand roof rack and automotive accessory business, Hubco. Hubco manufacture in New Zealand, so taking manufacturing offshore is not a company philosophy.

"Phil&teds will run the Mountain Buggy factory in New Zealand before making any decisions. The key is to be internationally competitive," Campbell said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers receiver John Fisk said it was pleasing to see the sale of the company as a going concern, "which will see the continuation of a great brand".

Throughout the sale process all parties had recognised the success of the Mountain Buggy brand, and had expressed a desire to see the continued growth of its product reputation, he said.

All preferential creditors will be paid in full, although there was unlikely to be any surplus available to unsecured trade creditors.

- NZPA