Specialist funds manager Ellerston Capital has acquired a minority investment of online department store DealsDirect.com.au through Ellerston Special Opportunity Platform.

DealsDirect.com.au co-founder Paul Greenberg said the acquisition will bring a significant capital injection and access to skills and strategic support that will allow the company to pursue opportunities to grow.

“We have been at the forefront of online retailing in this country for some years, and this deal allows us to explore all opportunities to continue our innovation and leadership in the space.  Growing the range, strategic acquisitions, new adjacencies and further building on the end-to-end customer experience are all obvious objectives and focus,” he said. 

"While traditional offline retailers are still facing the challenges of building a sustainable ecommerce strategy, we think we are well poised to build on our first-mover advantage and our years of learning and experience in online sales. We intend to grow our market share and enthusiastically pursue growth opportunities and this vote of confidence by Ellerston Capital allows us to do this rapidly.”

With more than 1.5 million unique browsers every month, DealsDirect.com.au launched an adjacent brand, DealMe.com.au in February 2011.The site provides “deal a day” experience to customers – both a hot, national branded product of the day and an “experience” in each capital city.

Separate to the announcement, DealsDirect.com.au will also see Martin Dalgleish, a marketing and brand practitioner, join the company’s board shortly.