New Zealand Book Retailer Sold

New Zealand Book Retailer Sold

6 April 2011

The Administrator of book retailer REDgroup Retail announced today it has agreed to the sale of a portfolio of 10 bookstores located in New Zealand’s airports.

These Whitcoulls stores are located in major airports at: Auckland (5); Wellington (2); Christchurch (2) and Rotorua (1). A sale of these stores has been agreed with Australia-based travel retail specialist LS Travel Retail Pacific. The sale price remains confidential.

LS Travel Retail Pacific — formerly known as Lagardère Services Asia Pacific — is a leading travel retail organisation, with stores at airports and major transport hubs throughout Australia, as well as duty free operations in Noumea. The company is part of the global LS Travel Retail group, which operates almost 4,000 stores in 20 countries around the world. It is intended that these New Zealand stores will be rebadged under the Relay brand over coming weeks.

Administrator Mr Steve Sherman said he was delighted to have found such a suitable buyer for the business. “This is a very good match,” he said. “LS Travel Retail is a global leader in travel retailing and this provides it with an excellent footprint in a growing market. Importantly, this guarantees the future of these stores and has preserved more than 100 jobs.”

Mr Sherman said the sale process for REDgroup Retail’s New Zealand business is continuing and he expects to have a clearer view of its prospects after the closure of final binding bids later in April. The REDgroup business in New Zealand now includes 77 stores: 63 Whitcoulls; 5 Borders and 9 Bennetts stores.

ENDS

© Scoop Media