New Zealand children's shoe brand Bobux has been snapped up by Munro Footwear Group (MFG), parent to Mathers, Williams and Midas.
Conor McElhinney and Andrew Grenfell - partners at advisory firm McGrathNicol NZ - led the sale process.
Bobux was placed into receivership on April 11, 2023 at the request of the shareholders and quickly entered a sale process. It reportedly received significant interest from a number of international parties.
Bobux will be the first child-specific brand to join MFG, providing ranges across baby, toddler and kids footwear, alongside its portfolio of other brands including Colorado, Ziera, I Love Billy, Mollini, and Diana Ferrari as well as retail entities Williams, Mathers and Midas.
Bobux sells across 40 countries globally, through wholesale and a direct-to-consumer website launched six years ago. It’s primary markets are the United Kingdom, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and the United States.
The company has 25 employees in New Zealand, eight in Indonesia, and one each in Australia and Denmark.
Bobux reportedly accrues total annual sales of over NZ$20 million through B2B, B2D and B2C channels.
MFG co-CEO Jay Munro said the new addition will increase the breadth of the Group's portfolio.
"We have a proven track record of building brands, like our most recent acquisition, Ziera, which has experienced improved performance under our business model,” Munro said. “I'm very confident that we will be able to preserve the essence and heritage of the Bobux brand whilst enabling it to reach its full potential.”
MFG took over management of Bobux on May 10.
The group has resumed operations across its existing three sales channels - wholesale, distributor, and ecommerce -including delivering the next season’s collection and selling the 2024 range.