“A number of people in the market are predicting the parts are worth more than the whole,and if that’s the case,we have to act in the best interest of shareholders,” Premier chairman and billionaire retail veteran Solomon Lew said on Tuesday.
The spin-offs would mean each business would have a board of directors and management team singularly focused on the standalone brand,he added.
“In the event that the business does get spun out,it will have a separate board,it will operate independently,and in some instances,will be able to move a lot faster,” Lew said. “There’s a lot of effort going into international growth.”
Smiggle is set to be demerged by the end of January next year,while a similar spin-off for Peter Alexander is being explored for some time in calendar 2025. Premier’s board of directors is working through regulatory approval processes to execute the proposed spin-off.
The stationery brand’s sales dipped 3.6 per cent to $183.9 million in the first half of the 2024 fiscal year as families juggled cost of living pressures. However,Premier is aiming to build out the brand’s global presence through store expansion,including a new wholesale partnership that has already resulted in seven Smiggle stores opening across the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
More than 10 new stores will be rolled out by the end of June.