Major Acquisition For Ezibuy

Media release
Tuesday 11 December 2007
Major Acquisition For Ezibuy

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Venecia Martin – Max General Manager Merchandise
Mary Devine – EziBuy Chief Executive
Leighanne Jones – Max General Manager Finance and Operations

Australasia’s largest apparel and home décor multi-channel retailer, EziBuy Limited, has today announced a major acquisition that will further support the company’s growth strategy.

EziBuy has acquired New Zealand fashion success story Max, in a confidential and commercially sensitive agreement.

Max is a leading retailer of women’s fashion in New Zealand and started in 1985 with five small stores. It now has 39 stores throughout New Zealand with a turnover of approximately $60 million and has become one of the country’s best-known local fashion brands. Max’s target customers are 18-45 year old sophisticated females. The company was owned by Direct Capital, David Wright [previous Managing Director] and other senior Max managers.

EziBuy Chief Executive Mary Devine says this acquisition is a key part of supporting EziBuy’s strategic direction.

“The Max brand is a Kiwi success story and, supported by the multi-channel infrastructure of EziBuy, it has the potential for significant growth both in New Zealand and Australia. The Max management structure and brand will remain the same and it will be business as usual on a day-to-day basis. The only changes will be the development of a strategy for the Max brand to enter the Australian market. In addition, I will take over the added responsibility of Managing Director for Max and Mike Beagley, current CEO, will continue in a consultancy role.”

Mary Devine has high praise for the team behind the Max brand, saying the execution of the marketing platform and product range is excellent.

“This brand owns its place in what can only be called a highly competitive market. We have watched the success of the Max brand and believe it has a strategic fit with the overall EziBuy business.”

The EziBuy success story continues, with growth in the core catalogue and internet channels, supported by the addition of a number of new retail stores throughout New Zealand, including Wellington, Tauranga, Hamilton and Napier In particular the company has reported strong trading results in recent months.

The company also acquired Profile Limited, which is a corporate clothing company that is continuing to grow with significant accounts including ASB, Burger King and Progressive Enterprises.

Mary Devine says EziBuy will continue to investigate opportunities to develop the company’s multi-channel approach, with a particular focus on opportunities in the Australian market.

For further information:
Background – EziBuy

EziBuy Limited is the largest fashion clothing and home décor multi-channel retailer in Australasia. It is a New Zealand-owned private company with a turnover in excess of $190 million and employs more than 700 staff

The company was established in Palmerston North in 1978 by brothers Peter and Gerard Gillespie. It expanded to Australia in 1992.

The company’s first mailing list of organisations and clubs was drawn from telephone books. Thirty years on, EziBuy produces more than 40 catalogues per year that are mailed to more than half a million people in New Zealand and Australia and dispatches an average of 9,000 parcels a day to Australasian shoppers.

EziBuy makes its core fashion and homeware collections available through catalogues and via its website. It also has retail stores in New Zealand and Australia.

EziBuy’s product range encompasses the company’s core womenswear brands – Capture, Grace Hill, Emerge and Urban – plus the extended choice offered by exclusive European brands Together and Apart. Sara, a 16+ women’s fashion brand, completes the range. This is complemented by an extensive range of Homeware and Gift products.

EziBuy also provides corporate uniforms through Profile, its corporate apparel division, which is a market leader in providing branded clothing solutions to a range of blue-chip clients and large multi-nationals.

A true Kiwi success story, EziBuy is one of the few New Zealand companies that has successfully integrated into the Australian market and has established itself as a trans-Tasman household name. Today, Australian customers account for more than 50 per cent of EziBuy’s total business.

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