Retail veteran gains foothold in shoe group

Platypus Shoes 2Brett Blundy, veteran retailer and chairman of BB Retail Capital that owns retail chains including Bras N Things and Lovisa, has acquired a large foothold in the owner of footwear brands including The Athlete’s Foot, Skechers and Platypus.

Blundy acquired 64,000,000 ordinary shares in RCG, representing approximately 11.82 per cent of RCG’s issued shares.

The shares were acquired for $0.95 per share, which represents a 20 per cent premium to RGC’s last closing price of $0.79.

As a result of the transaction, Blundy now hold 14.4 per cent of RCG’s issued shares.

“Mr Blundy has a strong industry reputation and a track record in global retail expansion,” RCG said in a statement.

“The board welcomes his increased investment in RCG and his endorsement of the company’s strategy.”

The vendors of the shares were RCG directors, Craig Thompson and Michael Hapgood, and William Duell, all of whom were vendors of the Accent business to RCG in 2015.

The sale represents approximately 50 per cent of their RCG shareholdings.

RCG has recently undergone a restructure, including renaming the company to Accent Group Limited, following its acquisition of Accent Group and Hype DC over the last two years.

Ex-Pas Group chief financial officer Matt Durbin will take up the CFO position – with the role relocated to Accent headquarters in Melbourne.

As part of the company restructure, Ivan Hammerschlag will retire as chairman at RCG after 11 years in the role and will be replaced by David Gordon, who joined RCG at the same time as Hammerschlag, and has been a non-executive director and chair of the audit and risk committee (ARC).

The board renewal includes the addition of non-executive director at JB Hi-Fi Stephen Goddard, who is a former ARC chair of Pacific Brands and Surfstitch Group. He was also formerly finance director and operations director for David Jones. Goddard will occupy the role of chairman of the ARC.

Retail veteran and former senior merchandising and planning executive at Big W and David Jones, Donna Player – currently a non-executive director at Baby Bunting Group, a member of The Iconic advisory board and merchandise director of Camilla – will also join the board.

In its most recent results, RCG booked a 21 per cent increase in underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) to $39.9 million for the year ended 30 June, underpinned by a 30 per cent spike in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $78.3 million.

Access exclusive analysis, locked news and reports with Inside Retail Weekly. Subscribe today and get our premium print publication delivered to your door every week.

You have 7 articles remaining. Unlock 15 free articles a month, it’s free.