MySale Group PLC Acquisition (7645B)

TIDMMYSL

RNS Number : 7645B

MySale Group PLC

06 April 2017

MYSALE GROUP PLC

6 April 2017

Acquisition

MySale Group plc (AIM: MYSL) ("the group") the leading international online retailer, is pleased to announce the acquisition of certain trade and assets of Identity Direct, a leading international retailer of personalised products.

Founded in 1992 Identity Direct has a rich heritage in providing consumers with personalised gifts and products, including; apparel, sporting goods, labels and books and has partnered with world famous brands including; Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon and Mattel. The acquisition includes a small, skilled workforce, stock and customer lists as well as a leasehold production centre in Auckland, New Zealand where products are personalised to the customer's requirements and shipped globally.

The group has paid A$2.69 million to the administrators of Identity Direct Ltd and Ortega Publishing Pty Ltd for the trade and assets acquired with deferred consideration of A$0.25 million payable on the finalisation of certain post-completion matters. All consideration is being satisfied from existing cash resources.

In the year to 30 June 2016, the most recently available financial statements, the trade being acquired had revenue of circa A$10 million per annum. Included in the acquisition are assets and inventory with a net book value of approximately A$1.5 million and a valuable database of 66,000 active customers. The group estimates such an active database would represent circa A$2 million of value when compared to the group's average acquisition cost per active customer.

The acquisition brings a number of strategic benefits as it is expected to:

   --        Establish the group in a growing segment with barriers to entry and unique product. 

-- Provide a strong fit with the group's existing customer base and leverage sunk marketing costs.

   --        Improve customer data collection. 

In terms of synergies the group will reduce operating costs by combining shared services, improving shipping rates and reducing payment processing costs. The Identity Direct operations will benefit significantly from the support available from the group's resources and infrastructure which should in turn deliver an improved offer and service to customers whilst enhancing efficiency.

The group also anticipates there are substantial opportunities to drive revenue by:

-- Cross marketing to the ANZ(1) active customer base and targeting our South-East Asian markets (Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and The Philippines).

-- Seeking to reactivate customers in our existing database who respond well to the Identity Direct range of products.

-- Increasing the range of products upon which Identity Direct is able to offer personalisation.

   --      Development of new licences with existing and new brand partners. 

Carl Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, commented

"We are delighted to welcome Identity Direct to the MySale group. This acquisition will allow us to build an additional revenue stream that is very complementary to our existing core activities.

"We believe that MySale's strength and expertise as an online retailer of scale will bring many benefits to Identity Direct which in turn will unlock significant opportunities and efficiencies hitherto unavailable to that business."

_______________________

(1) Australia and New Zealand

Enquiries:

 
 MySale Group plc 
                                     [phone] 
 Carl Jackson, Chief Executive        843 
                                     [phone] 
 Graeme Burns, Investor Relations     4516 
 
 
 Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated     [phone] 
  Adviser & Joint Broker)             5000 
 Giles Balleny, Corporate Finance 
  Benjamin Robertson, Corporate 
  Broking 
 
                                     [phone] 
 N+1 Singer (Joint Broker)            3000 
 Mark Taylor 
 
                                     [phone] 
 Maitland                             5151 
 Dan Yea 
 

About MySale Group

MySale is a leading international online retailer with established online flash sales and retail websites in Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2007, the Group provides customers with access to outstanding brands and products at discounted prices whilst simultaneously providing brand partners unique international inventory and sales solutions.

The Group's flash sales websites host time limited sales in each of its territories. These flash sales are focused on fashion, apparel, health, beauty and homeware categories and are predominantly undertaken on a consignment inventory basis. The retail websites operate in Australia and focus on similar product categories using mostly drop-shipped inventory.

Customers' shopping experiences are enhanced by the Group's deployment of leading edge technology to ensure personalised and localised product offerings. Customer convenience has been at the heart of the Group's technology development since the earliest days and now mobile commerce is the Group's main sales channel.

The Group's online sales are supported by a robust and flexible network of in-house supply chain infrastructure and technology that enables MySale to offer products from around the world for sale and delivery to customers in each territory.

As a result of these exceptional capabilities in inventory management and international sales MySale has built an enviable portfolio of over 2,500 brand partners from whom products are sourced.

The Group operates websites under a number of different brands all of which operate on a uniform technology platform and a single international logistics infrastructure.

The Group's flash sales brands are; OzSale and BuyInvite in Australia; NzSale in New Zealand; SingSale in Singapore; MySale in Australia, New Zealand Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, and Cocosa in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand; whilst the Group's retail websites are Deals Direct, OO.com and Top Buy in Australia.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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April 06, 2017 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)