Smiggle’s Australian owners, Premier Investments, plan to demerge the successful stationery business from January 2025.
Premier Investments, a retail group in Australia which owns and operates a selection of retail, consumer products and wholesale businesses, revealed its intentions to demerge Smiggle at the same time it announced a net profit of A$177.2 million for the six months to 27 January this year, up 1.65% from a year earlier.
A demerger means that Smiggle will be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) which according to chairman of Premier Investments, Solomon Lew “is likely to maximise and accelerate the growth opportunities.”
Smiggle currently has 305 stores in five countries beyond Australia including New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Singapore and Malaysia. Expansion into the Middle East via a wholesale partner started last year, with seven new stores opened in 2023. Smiggle expects to have over 17 standalone stores trading by July 2024 in the Middle East. A similar agreement in Indonesia will see the opening of over 100 standalone Smiggle stores over the next 10 years.
