The direct-selling sector continues to be a hive of M&A activity,
with more acquisitions taking place over the last few
weeks.
Among the largest deals recently was Morrisons’ £70 million
acquisition of nursery products etailer Kiddicare, announced on
15th February. The acquisition is part of Morrisons’ plan to grab
a share of the multichannel space and includes the rights to use
Kiddicare’s online technology platform. In a statement, Morrisons
said this was the “first step in developing Morrisons’
online business”, with the supermarket expecting to start
selling online next year.
Kiddicare will continue to be run as a separate entity with Scott
and Elaine Weavers-Wright at its helm. Kiddicare’s turnover for
the full fiscal year 2010 was £37.5 million, having grown 75
percent in the last three years.
N Brown Group, via its subsidiary JD Williams, announced on 21st
January it was acquiring the Slimma and Splendour brands from
Slimma plc for £800,000. N Brown already stocks Slimma
products within its JD Williams and Julipa titles. Splendour is a
staple lingerie brand within Figleaves and Simply Be. The
transaction is conditional upon Slimma plc changing its
registered name to CDU plc.
Also on the acquisition trail was The Hut Group, owner of
Lookfantastic and Mankind, which bought collapsed beauty products
etailer HQ Hair on 17th January. The Hut acquired the HQ Hair
domain and trademark from the administrator, but no stock,
employees, or any other assets were bought, nor did any
liabilities transfer over, confirmed Sarah Jasper, head of
business development at The Hut Group.
On 28th January, shoe retailer Jones Bootmaker was bought by
Dutch firm Macintosh Retail Group, which also owns footwear chain
Brantano. Following the deal, Jones Bootmaker aims to increase
its retail presence by opening 15 new stores in the UK over the
next two to three years. Further, a new website will go live this
year to capitalise on online growth and a separate distribution
centre for online sales will open soon.
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