Noni B to become one of the largest fashion retailers in Australia

After snapping competitor’s Specialty Fashion’s portfolio of mid-market brands - Millers, Katies, Rivers, Crossroads and Autograph for 31 million dollars, Noni B has become one of the largest especiallty women’s apparel retailers in Australia.

Noni B will own and run a network of more than 1,350 stores across nine brands, including Noni B Group’s existing brands, Noni B, Rockmans, W.Lane and BeMe.

Noni B Group’s total annual sales would almost treble to around 1 billion dollars following the acquisition, based on the calendar year 2017 figures, managing director and chief executive officer Scott Evans has said in a corporate release issued Monday.

“This is another exciting step forward for Noni B Group and represents the acquisition of five well-known and established, iconic Australian brands that are both complementary and highly synergistic to our existing portfolio,” Evans added.

“With the successful integration of the Pretty Girl Fashion Group over the past 18 months, the team at Noni B Group has created a very successful and scalable retail business. With the acquisition of the Specialty Assets, Noni B Group will become one of the pre-eminent women’s apparel retailers in Australia, whilst retaining our solid, focused market position.”

According to Specialty Fashion’s management, proceeds from the sale of the five loss-making brands will be used to strengthen Specialty Fashion's balance sheet, create a stronger platform for future growth and enable the company to resume paying fully franked dividends.

Acquisition of Specialty Fashion’s brands to generate synergies worth 30 million dollars

Noni B's annual sales will almost treble to around $1 billion and earnings (EBITDA) are forecast to rise from 21 million dollars to around 31 million dollars after the deal. This includes the full year benefit of store closures but excludes synergy benefits.

Noni B chief executive Scott Evans expects the acquisition to generate synergies of at least 30 million dollars, mainly through lower cost of goods, and believes the acquired brands will achieve break even on an EBITDA basis in 2019.

Noni B's sales rose almost three-fold to 311 million dollars in 2017 following the acquisition of the Pretty Girl Fashion Group, including Table Eight, Rockmans, BeMe, and W. Lane.

Image:Noni B