The Australian private equity firm Catalyst Investment Managers has spent tens of millions of dollars acquiring a 43.5 per cent stake in clothing and hardware business EziBuy.
Catalyst's involvement would be particularly helpful to EziBuy in Australia, where the $170-million-plus-turnover company does more than half its business, EziBuychief executive Mary Devine said yesterday.
Catalyst had extensive experience in the Australian clothing sector, having been involved with Pacific Brands.
"They are one of the big boys, basically."
Devine said the benefit of Catalyst buying in, through a newly established firm, Multichannel, related to EziBuy expansion plans across the Tasman.
"A lot of our growth is coming out of the Australian market. We now sell more in Australia than New Zealand."
Devine said the price paid by Catalyst was confidential but it was inthe tens of millions of dollars.
The sellers are New Zealand private equity company Direct Capital and a private firm, Direct Group.
Devine said Direct Capital wasexiting to realise its investment, while Direct Group had other development plans.
EziBuy founders and brothers Peter and Gerard Gillespie will remain the operation's majority shareholders and will stay as directors. They established the company in 1978 and expanded to Australia in 1992.
Ezibuy is Catalyst's second big investment in New Zealand in the past six months, after its purchase of Metro GlassTech last August.
One of Ezibuy's strengths is its multi-channel retail model, using mail order, telephone, website and in-store sales.
Its catalogue goes to more than half a million customers in Australia and New Zealand.
The Catalyst acquisition is subject to Overseas Investment Office approval.
