Children’s apparel business Pumpkin Patch has been acquired by investment firm Alceon Group and will be relaunched in New Zealand through Ezibuy.

The business will feature in Ezibuy’s online and physical stores by the end of October, with a full re-launch planned for July 2019. Ezibuy has stated its intention to launch standalone retail stores.

“The Pumpkin Patch brand has a strong recognition in both Australia and New Zealand and its products are highly respected in the children’s wear markets,” Alceon executive director Richard Facioni said.

“Pumpkin Patch will complement our existing retail portfolio and, through leveraging the resources of our EziBuy business, we are confident we can successfully relaunch and rebuild this iconic brand.”

Alceon holds one of Australia’s largest retail portfolios, including Noni B, Ezibuy, SurfStitch and Cheap as Chips.

Through Noni B, Alcean has made a number of large acquisitions, having purchased the Millers, Katies, Crossroads, Autograph and Rivers brands from Specialty Fashion Group for $33 million earlier in the year.

The acquisitions turned Noni B into the largest women’s fashion player in Australia, pushing it’s store footprint to over 1400.

Pumpkin Patch was acquired by Catch Group in March of 2017, who declined to comment on the sale.

The timing seems to coincide with their reportedly forthcoming IPO, with the online marketplace slated to enter the ASX with the assistance of UBS and Cannacord Genuity, according to the AFR.

A Catch spokesperson told Inside Retail that no final decision had been made regarding the reported IPO.

This story originally appeared on sister-site Inside Retail New Zealand.

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