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Lovisa (ASX:LOV) to expand European holding

Consumer Discretionary
ASX:LOV      MCAP $3.331B
13 November 2020 14:30 (AEST)
Lovisa (ASX:LOV) - Managing Director, Shane Fallscheer

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Lovisa (LOV) was up more than 14 per cent today after announcing the acquisition of German wholesaler beeline GmbH’s European retail network.

This is expected to add more than 80 stores across six European countries to Lovisa’s global network.

beeline GmbH currently operates 114 retail stores across seven countries, selling jewellery and accessories under the SIX and I AM brands.

This acquisition will see Lovisa acquire the shares in six of beeline GmbH’s trading entities in Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

All continuing stores will be rebranded to trade as Lovisa stores.

Shares in all six of these entities will be acquired for a total purchase price of only €60 (around A$97.99) and beeline GmbH will ensure a total cash position of €9.87 million (around A$16.1 million) across the entities.

The acquisitions will be completed progressively from March 1, 2021, through to the end of May 2021.

Further, Lovisa expects the cash needed for fit-out and conversion to Lovisa-branded stores is expected to be less than €5 million (roughly A$8.1 million).

“We are very excited that this transaction gives us the opportunity to add six new countries to our global store network, and provides us with a strong base and quality team to grow the Lovisa brand further in these markets into the future as part of our ongoing global rollout strategy,” Managing Director Shane Fallscheer said.

Lovisa has also entered a put option agreement to acquire beeline France, potentially giving the company access to a network of 30 more stores.

This will provide beeline the option to sell the shares in beeline France to Lovisa, post the completion of mandatory consultation with beeline France’s employee works council.

Further updates will be provided as this process progresses.

Lovisa is still up a healthy 13.4 per cent and shares are trading for $11.37 each at 2:11 pm AEDT.

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