Retail chain Postie has been sold to Australian private equity firm Allegro Funds for an undisclosed sum. Photo / File
Retail chain Postie has been sold to Australian private equity firm Allegro Funds for an undisclosed sum. Photo / File
Clothing chain Postie has been sold to the Australian private equity firm that owns footwear chains Hannah's and Number One Shoes.
Global retail company Steinhoff International's Australasian arm Greenlit Brands, which owns and operates Postie and Freedom Furniture, along with a handful of other retail chains in Australia and Asia that do not operate in New Zealand, has sold its general merchandise division, including the Postie business, to Allegro Funds, a private equity firm that specialises in company turnarounds.
The move is said to allow Greenlit Brands to focus on its more profitable household goods businesses in Australasia - part of the parent company's strategy to downsize its portfolio following a $9 billion accounting scandal last year.
Greenlit Brands rebranded from Steinhoff Asia Pacific last September in an effort to distance itself from scandal surrounding its parent company. Its general merchandise business had annual sales of $1 billion last year, and earned about $11m in the last financial year, according to the AFR.
Allegro will gain 322 stores and over 6100 employees, including popular Australian retail chains Harris Scarfe and Best & Less, following the sale.
Postie was founded in Reefton in 1909 by the Dellaca family and started as a drapery and boot shop. Since then it has grown to a network of 63 stores and employs around 420 people in New Zealand.
The retail chain went into voluntary administration in 2014, but was rescued by South African retail company Pepkor that later merged with Steinhoff International.
Linda Leonard, chief executive of Postie Plus. Photo / Supplied
In April, Postie appointed former Number One Shoes executive Linda Leonard as its new chief executive. At the time, former chief executive Rod Orrock said the retailer had focused its attention on "quality product" and had heavily invested in its online business.
Leonard, who was previously merchandise director for the chain, has been tasked with leading the company's growth. She was also previously planning and international logistics manager for Number One Shoes.
Orrock, at the time, said Leonard's expertise and background in online shopping, social media and apparel sourcing was an asset and would be critical for the chain's growth.
Retail analyst Chris Wilkinson said the chain was integral to provincial New Zealand, and served the mid-market with low-cost apparel, popular with families with growing children.
Wilkinson said there were "strong synergies" between Postie, Hannah's and Number One Shoes chains from both geographical and demographic perspectives, which could work in Allegro's favour.
"This will allow for greater focus on opportunities and specific focus on opportunities for the New Zealand market," he said.
"This will potentially give them the that opportunity to realise economies of scale by leveraging some of the infrastructure that Hannah's and Number One Shoes have got, or equally the other way. That's one of the secrets to success right now - to be able to reduce those top-end costs."
Postie owner Greenlit Brands said the stable of general merchandise retail chain would join a group with a "strong track-record in building and enhancing businesses".
"We believe this will unlock new opportunities for all the people working within these brands," Greenlit Brands group chief executive, Michael Ford, said.
"This transaction sees us return to our roots as a focused household goods group."
