Rumours of Woolworths Holdings’ plans to sell David Jones had been swirling since the middle of this year, with the South African retailer looking to exit the business having purchased it for $2.1 billion in 2014.
Industry sources had been tipping the value of the deal to sit between $120 million and $150 million, but neither company would confirm the figure on Monday.
Woolworths Holdings chief executive Roy Bagattini said there were a number of “moving parts” in the transaction and the company would confirm the exact value of the deal after it closes next year.
Woolworths’ investors will see further proceeds once the company sells the physical property housing its flagship Melbourne store in Bourke Street, which is separate to the Anchorage deal.
Regardless of the final price tag, Anchorage is snapping up the department store icon for a fraction of what Woolworths Holdings paid eight years ago.
Woolworths’ plans to overhaul the department store’s brand faced challenges over the years, and retail closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic made matters worse during the last years of its ownership.
Woolworths Holdings Ltd CEO Roy Bagattini has finally offloaded David Jones.
Bagattini told this masthead on Monday his team wanted to hand David Jones off to a partner that was committed to its growth after Woolworths had done the work to set the company on a stronger path.
“We’ve always maintained this was not necessarily a long-term fit for us as a group,” he said.
“Just a few short years ago we were in a very different position financially with the company… We had quite a lot of work to do to set it up.”
Anchorage said it will support the company’s existing growth strategy, which is called ‘Vision 2025’ and is focused on delivering a more seamless “omnichannel” experience where shoppers can move more easily between online and bricks-and-mortar retail.
“Anchorage will acquire the operating business of David Jones with the transaction expected to close by the end of March 2023, subject to customary closing conditions,” the company said in a statement.
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Business News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
