Myer has made an offer to buy five fashion brands from Premier Investments’ clothing division for $950 million.
The retail giant will merge with Premier Investments’ clothing division Apparel Brands, acquiring Just Jeans, JayJays, Portmans, Dotti and Jacqui-E brands and adding 780 stores to its rapidly expanding portfolio.
As part of the deal, Premier Investments will exchange its five brands for 890.5 million Myer shares and a cash payment of $82 million; These shares will represent more than 51 percent of the retail giant.
Premier Investments will retain two brands, Smiggle and Peter Alexander, as part of the deal.
“This is an opportunity for our team and shareholders to play an important role in the future of Australia and New Zealand’s retail landscape,” Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew said.
Myer has 56 department stores and, combined with Premier Investments’ 719 stores, the retail giant will surpass 780 stores in Australia and New Zealand and add 17,300 more employees to its portfolio.
Speaking to investors on Tuesday morning, Myer chief executive Olivia Wirth said the brand merger was going to be “transformational” for the business.
“If approved by shareholders, it will create a leading retail group with more than 780 stores in Australia and New Zealand, with a large, highly engaged customer base and capital to fund future investment and growth,” Ms Wirth said.
“Myer and Apparel Brands have highly complementary store footprints and customers who will benefit from an expanded omnichannel ecosystem that will allow them to interact with the group’s beloved brands whenever and however they want.”
Myer has made a bid to acquire five fashion brands from Premier Investments: Just Jeans, JayJays, Portmans, Dotti and Jacqui-E.
Just Jeans is one of five fashion brands Myer will acquire from Premier Investments.
Lew has long been interested in Myer’s success.
As a teenager, Lew supplied dresses to Myer Emporium, and later took a nearly 10 percent stake in Myer Emporium Ltd in 1983.
In 1991, Lew had claimed the position of chairman of Coles Myer, but was removed in 2002.
Lew began sharing his concerns with Myer management in 2017, openly criticizing then-chairman John King and often advocating for a board shake-up.
King announced his retirement as CEO in June 2023 and will leave Myer in 2024.
Dotti appears to be acquired by Myer in $950 million deal with Premier Investments
As part of the Apparel Brands acquisition, Lew will join Myer’s board as a non-executive director and Wirth will remain as executive chairwoman.
Myer shareholders will vote on the acquisition at the end of January, with the ink on the deal set to dry in early 2025.