EDGARDS CONSOLIDATED STORES LIMITED - ACQUISITION OF BOARDMANS
EDGARS CONSOLIDATED STORES LIMITED
"Edcon"
(Reg. No. 1946/022751/06)
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Share Code: ECO
ISIN Code: ZAE000018388
ACQUISITION OF BOARDMANS
Edcon has acquired the business of Boardmans from Pick "n Pay for approximately
R94 million. This is in line with Edcon"s stated strategy of making select
acquisitions of reasonably priced businesses in the non food retail area. The
impact of Boardmans on Edcon"s existing businesses will be incremental.
Boardmans trades out of 26 stores, having a selling area of 30 000m2. It
generated turnover of R211 million for the year ended February 2003 with a sales
mix comprising predominantly kitchenware, furniture and outdoor goods, with soft
goods (bedding, towels, curtains and the like) contributing 4% of sales.
Boardmans complements the homewares business of the Edgars chain which has an
annual turnover of around R250 million, comprising almost exclusively soft
goods. Boardmans has a well established brand name and a similar target market
to Edgars. It has stores in prime locations and will give Edcon an immediate
presence in the homewares segment of the market. The business will leverage off
Edcon"s existing IT, distribution platforms and head office infrastructure in
the areas of finance, human resources and marketing and will benefit from
Edcon"s core competencies in these areas. There is also an opportunity to offer
credit to customers of Boardmans.
The financial effect on Edcon shareholders is not considered to be material in
the short term. Edcon is, however, of the view that Boardman"s will make a
contribution to earnings within the next three years.
This acquisition is subject to the assignment or subletting of certain leases to
Edcon and to approval by the competition authorities. The effective date will be
1 April 2004 if the conditions have been fulfilled by 15 March 2004 and if not,
will be the third Monday of the month following the fulfilment of the last of
the conditions.
Johannesburg
12 December 2003
Financial advisor and sponsor to Edcon:
Cazenove South Africa (Pty) Limited
Date: 12/12/2003 11:20:02 AM Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za
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