Postie

May 1, 2023

Share Allegro Funds’ decision to sell its 32.4 per cent stake in Best & Less will add another $77 million to the growing pile of cash collected from its bet on the discounted clothing retailer three years ago. Allegro Funds, run by Chester Moynihan, Adian Loader and Fay Bou, has notched up some stonking exits in recent years. Oscar Colman As revealed by Street Talk on Sunday , Allegro has agreed to sell its stake, in the absence of a superior offer, to Brett Blundy and Ray Itaoui for $1.89 a share. Joining the PE group at the Best & Less check-out is Best & Less chairman Jason Murray, who owns another 8.27 per cent. Blundy was already sitting on 16.45 per cent. Combined, Blundy and Itaoui will control 55 per cent of the company’s equity, and be able to call the shots. It is not often a party makes a takeover offer without necessarily wanting to gain full ownership of a company. In this case, the deal is essentially a block trade of Allegro and Murray’s shares, wrapped up in an off-market takeover. At $1.89 a share, the offer was a 10¢ a share discount to the last close. Advertisement The deal is possible because Blundy found restless shareholders in Allegro and Murray. And while Blundy obviously wanted the stake, he’s legally required to make a bid for the rest of the company given he will own more than 20 per cent of the group. That the bidders had to wrap up the block as a takeover bid for the whole company is a perfunctory detail. Minority shareholders are unlikely to sell at a discount, and would be keen to see Blundy work his midas touch on the retailer. Fund managers reckon a rival bid is unlikely. It’d be brave to bet against Blundy, who’s already got 16.45 per cent even without Allegro and Murray, and has an unmatched reputation in clothing retail. Rich pickings for Allegro Allegro, a turnaround PE specialist, acquired Best & Less alongside Harris Scarfe, Debenham’s and Postie in 2019 from Greenlit Brands. Its acquisition price wasn’t known. It ended up combining Postie with Best & Less and floating it in July 2021. Now for Allegro’s returns from Best & Less. They were delivered in four hits. The first $40 million odd arrived when it sold Blundy’s BBRC International vehicle a 16.4 per cent stake at $1.94 a share just before the IPO. The second lot was its IPO sell down, which netted the firm another $53 million. The third came via a block trade in August at $2.30 a share. That deposited another $33 million odd into Allegro’s bank account. Blundy closed the circle on Sunday, agreeing to take the last of Allegro’s shareholding off its hands for $77 million. In all, Allegro has collected $200 million from Best & Less and Postie over four years – and that’s not including what it may have made (or lost) off Harris Scarfe and Debenhams. Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Email Sarah at sarah.thompson@afr.com Emma Rapaport is the markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review Connect with Emma on Twitter . Email Emma at emma.rapaport@afr.com Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column. Email Kanika at kanika.sood@afr.com.au Save