MySale Group plc Acquires Identity Direct

MySale Group plc the leading international online retailer, is pleased to announce the acquisition of certain trade and assets of Identity Direct, a leading international retailer of personalised products.

Founded in 1992 Identity Direct has a rich heritage in providing consumers with personalised gifts and products, including; apparel, sporting goods, labels and books and has partnered with world famous brands including; Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon and Mattel. The acquisition includes a small, skilled workforce, stock and customer lists as well as a leasehold production centre in Auckland, New Zealand where products are personalised to the customer's requirements and shipped globally.

The group has paid A$2.69 million to the administrators of Identity Direct Ltd and Ortega Publishing Pty Ltd for the trade and assets acquired with deferred consideration of A$0.25 million payable on the finalisation of certain post-completion matters. All consideration is being satisfied from existing cash resources.

In the year to 30 June 2016, the most recently available financial statements, the trade being acquired had revenue of circa A$10 million per annum. Included in the acquisition are assets and inventory with a net book value of approximately A$1.5 million and a valuable database of 66,000 active customers.  The group estimates such an active database would represent circa A$2 million of value when compared to the group's average acquisition cost per active customer.

The acquisition brings a number of strategic benefits as it is expected to:

• Establish the group in a growing segment with barriers to entry and unique product.
• Provide a strong fit with the group's existing customer base and leverage sunk marketing costs.
• Improve customer data collection.

In terms of synergies the group will reduce operating costs by combining shared services, improving shipping rates and reducing payment processing costs. The Identity Direct operations will benefit significantly from the support available from the group's resources and infrastructure which should in turn deliver an improved offer and service to customers whilst enhancing efficiency.

 The group also anticipates there are substantial opportunities to drive revenue by:

• Cross marketing to the ANZ1 active customer base and targeting our South-East Asian markets (Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and The Philippines).
• Seeking to reactivate customers in our existing database who respond well to the Identity Direct range of products.
• Increasing the range of products upon which Identity Direct is able to offer personalisation.
• Development of new licences with existing and new brand partners.

Carl Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, commented

''We are delighted to welcome Identity Direct to the MySale group.  This acquisition will allow us to build an additional revenue stream that is very complementary to our existing core activities.

''We believe that MySale's strength and expertise as an online retailer of scale will bring many benefits to Identity Direct  which in turn will unlock significant opportunities and efficiencies hitherto unavailable to that business.''