SOUTH AFRICA – Edcon has announced the sale of parts of the Edgars business in South Africa to Retailability (Pty) Ltd having received all the approvals from the regulatory authorities after meeting and fulfilling all the conditions set by the regulators.
The sale includes the transfer of approximately 120 stores in South Africa together with the businesses conducted therein.
Retailability, a fashion retailer and a holding company of store brands including Legit, Beaver Canoe and Style, operates in over 460 stores across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and eSwatini.
Retailability aims to ensure that ongoing operational business is its top priority while integration work is moving ahead vigorously.
In a statement, the business rescue practitioners commented, “We are pleased that we were able to close the transaction within two (2) months after the announcement. The closure of the transaction underlines the industry fit and the excellent compatibility between Edgars and Retailability’s strategic intent, infrastructure, and value chain. We are pleased by the significant saving of approximately 5,200 jobs as well as the continued commitment to the retail industry, economy and the sustainability of the South African Edgars brand”.
The statement further said that the finalization of the sale in South Africa indicates the achievement of a critical milestone in the Edcon business rescue plan.
The parties will continue to co-operate and work towards concluding the sale of Edgars’ businesses in other various jurisdictions in Africa (namely Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho and Namibia), where various regulatory approvals and conditions precedent remain outstanding.
Edcon is southern Africa’s largest non-food retailer and they have been in business for nearly 90 years.
They operate in stores across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
They conduct our business under three principal brands: Edgars, Jet, thank U.
Edgars is targeted at middle to upper-income customers while Jet sells quality value fashion, home and beauty merchandise targeted at lower to middle-income customers.
Their thank U rewards programme, which includes 14 million customers on its database, allows their members to earn thank U points for their purchases in their stores and those operated by their U partners.
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