Is Myer looking to sell Sass & Bide, other house brands?

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 21, 2018

Struggling Australian department store chain Myer could be looking to sell some of its brands with new chief executive John King reportedly mulling the disposal of Sass & Bide, Marcs and David Lawrence.

The Australian reported that Melbourne-based advisory firm Flagstaff is working on a plan to find buyers for the fashion brands.

Myer had been extremely protective of these brands under previous management but King is reportedly less committed to them. That might please activist shareholder Solomon Lew of Premier Investments, who has ben critical of the slow pace of change at Myer and its ongoing support for Sass & Bide in particular.

Almost a year ago, in a trading update, Myer said that brand "has been challenged during the past year" and announced a A$38.8 million write-down related to the label. 

Myer paid as much as A$70 million for it several years ago but it hasn’t turned into the cash cow that it hoped and has weighed on the firm’s overall performance, the newspaper said.

The Marcs and David Lawrence brands collapsed last year and saw Myer stepping in as as a buyer of last resort, after the administrator was unable to find another buyer.

John King, once led a turnaround at House of Fraser when he was CEO there (before that chain’s latest, well-documented problem began) and is reported to see owning such brands as a distraction from the main task of  getting the department store chain back on track.