Classic adds Kiwi brand to stable
The buy-out of the company, a subsidiary of Australasian brewery Lion Nathan, includes all stock, a blue chip client list, a small amount of office space and a complex software package developed by Yetimo itself.
A condition of the sale, which has a settlement date of July 3, is that Yetimo's 20 staff - a third of which are based in New Zealand - be retained by the new owner.
The company, will continue to be run independently and will be headed by a three-strong senior management team - Kim Li as Australian sales director, Michelle Eisele as purchasing director and Lynley Webb as New Zealand business director.
Classic Sportswear managing director Tony Magnus said the move to acquire the Auckland-based company had first been mooted two years ago, but no action had been taken until Classic was invited to tender for the business in May. It took just seven days for Lion Nathan to approve Classic's bid to purchase the company whose core business is beer branded apparel, including T-shirts, caps, polo shirts, tracksuits and handbags - 70 per cent of which is imported.
Brands included in the stable include Emu Bitter, Tooheys New, James Squire and XXXX.
Magnus confirmed Yetimo would be housed in Classic's former home, in Sydney's Cleveland Street alongside existing tenants swimwear brand Tigerlily and denimwear label Tsubi and would move in once renovations at the site had been completed.
Magnus said he would also look to take on at least four extra staff - to bulk up his financial, sales and design teams - as a result of the buy-out.
"There are a lot of synergies between the two companies - Yetimo hasn't got its own designer and Classic has three a team of three. Yetimo has a logistics manager but we don't. They've got skills in big volume merchandising and we have skills in small runs. [However in taking on new staff] we are seeking to value-add to the skills of the group, rather than bringing in one accountant to work on a particular brand."
The acquisition is the second major purchase by the 75-year-old company in the past 10 months following its buy-out of licensed apparel company Top Heavy in October.
However Magnus admitted that while "anything is possible", the Yetimo acquisition was likely to be the last of its kind for some time.
"I think we've done enough over the past 12 months. We're still keen to keep processing but adding to the width of the business rather than just buying up other businesses."