Myer has bought the remaining 35 per cent stake of sass & bide for approximately $30 million, taking full ownership of the fashion brand.
Myer CEO Bernie Brookes said sass & bide achieved double-digit sales and profit growth for the full year of 2013.
“Since Myer acquired a 65 percent stake in the business in February 2011, sass & bide has delivered a consistently strong performance, growing sales by 45 per cent and profit by 112 per cent over the period. This has been an outstanding achievement,” he said.
According to Brookes, in addition to having stretched the brand into intimate apparels this year, there are plans to open new standalone and concession stores, including an international store in New York’s SOHO in November 2013.
“sass & bide is well placed to continue building on this strong platform and has an exciting pipeline of growth initiatives to deliver including new store openings and brand extensions into new categories,” he said.
It will also be business as usual as sass & bide will retain its autonomy of management and design. Founders of the brand, Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke, as well as David Briskin will also remain involved.
The sass & bide management team has been strengthened by the recent appointment of Megan Foster to the role of managing director sass & bide and group general manager Myer freestanding stores. David Briskin, as executive chairman, will continue to manage the business in conjunction with Megan.