The founders and former CEO of Catch Group have invested $9.3 million in online value retailer MySale Group for a 10 per cent stake in the business.
Founded in 2007, MySale currently operates six retail websites in Australia (OzSale, BuyInvite, DealsDirect, OO, Top Buy and IdentityDirect), three in New Zealand (NZSale, BuyInvite and IdentityDirect) and other sites in Southeast Asia.
Gabby Leibovich and Hezi Leibovich created Catch.com.au, which was sold to Wesfarmers in 2018, at which time Nati Harpaz was Catch’s CEO.
With MySale running cashflow positive, the investment provides the business with about $12 million in net cash to fund growth.
CEO Carl Jackson says the investment will enable MySale to invest in technology as well as to increase and improve brand inventory and mix.
“Being able to attract investors of this calibre is extremely rewarding and is a testament to our team and the strength of our differentiated business model,” he said. “This investment will further enhance MySale’s ANZ First Strategy as we seek to scale our marketplace platform with leading brands across a wide range of new categories to complement our already established international and domestic fashion, footwear, accessories and beauty categories.”
Jackson says MySale has experienced a strong start to the year as it enters the peak trading season.
“During the past year we have restructured our cost base taking out significant unnecessary costs, improved the margins and are now moving to scale the business.”
- Nati Harpaz is an owner of Octomedia, publisher of Inside Retail and Internet Retailing.
