Footwear giant Accent Group has entered into an agreement to acquire youth retailer Glue Store and its wholesale and distribution business Next Athleisure for $13 million.
Glue Store is a youth apparel, shoe and accessory retailer which operates 21 stores across Australia.
The business also operates an integrated online site and has a strong loyalty database with around 500,000 members.
Glue Store generates annual sales of approximately $90 million, including $16.6 million in online sales.
The acquisition will see Accent acquire all of Glue's in-house brands including Nude Lucy, Beyond Her, Lulu & Rose and Article One, which drive more than 25% of sales.
If approved by brand owners, Accent will also take on Next Athleisure's (NAL) distribution rights of global brands including Superga, Ellesse, Le Coq Sportif, Kappa, K-Way, Sebago and Napapijri.
Upon acquisition, NAL will become a new division within Accent dubbed 'Accent Lifestyle.'
Accent Lifestyle will be headed by Darren Todd, the current CEO of NAL, who will join Accent as group GM - Accent Lifestyle.
As part of the deal, all current employees of NAL will be offered a position within Accent.
Accent Group CEO Daniel Agostinelli said the acquisition plays perfectly into the business' strategy for growth.
"The NAL acquisition is perfectly aligned to our strategy to grow our leadership position in the lifestyle and youth apparel market in Australia and New Zealand.
"Glue Store, along with the NAL wholesale and distribution business, provides and established and complimentary platform to accelerate our growing apparel business.
"It also come with several exciting vertical owned brands and a strong portfolio of global distributed brands," he said.
The acquisition follows Accent's recent moves to add more lifestyle brands to its portfolio, having recently landed exclusive distribution deals for Hershel and Hoka One One.
Agostinelli added that Accent will be able to drive further profitability for the NAL business through its extensive retail experience.
"We see significant opportunity to leverage Accent's retail expertise to improve the Glue Store customer experience and profitability.
"The youth apparel market is highly fragmented with significant opportunity to grow the store network and capture market share over time.
"I would also like to welcome Darren Todd and the Next Athleisure team to the Accent business," he said.
Todd welcomed Accent's acquisition and said that it represents the next phase in NAL's growth.
"The move to Accent ownership represents a strong strategic alignment for the Next Athleisure business and the right next phase in the Next Athleisure growth plan that the team has been driving over the last two years," he said.
Meanwhile, Accent has also welcomed Brett Blundy back to the Board.
Blundy has been appointed as a non-executive director of Accent Group, effective today.
"We are very pleased that Brett has re-joined the Accent Board," Accent chairman David Gordon said.
"Brett's considerable experience acquired over many years of building and growing successful vertical branded businesses, particularly across apparel and accessories, will provide valuable strategic insight and direction as Accent Group accelerates its strategy to grow both owned and vertical brands and a strong presence in the youth and street apparel market," he said.