PEPKO RETAIlL GROUP ACQUIRE RETAILABILITY STORES IN STRATEGIC EXPANSION OF ADULTWARE MARKET

RETAIL group Pepkor plans to acquire hundreds of Retailability's Legit, Swagga, Style stores and the Boardsmans business as it gains further traction in its strategy to build market share in the adultwear market. Pepkor’s management, which did not disclose an explicit value of the transaction on Tuesday except to say that it is not less than R1.9 billion, has previously said they want to expand the group's market share in adultwear through organic and acquisitive growth strategies.

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The launch of the new Ayana womenswear brand in 32 stores at the end of February 2025, and the recent acquisition of Choice Clothing, are further ‘examples of the group's adultwear growth strategy. “These businesses are a natural fit for Pepkor Speciality and we are looking forward to integrating them and unlocking benefits from the added scale," Tyrone Vieira, CEO of Pepkor Emerging Businesses, said in a statement.

The acquired businesses generated R2.4bn in revenue in the 2024 financial year. Privately-owned Retailability offers affordable clothing and lifestyle products across a number of retail brands via 462 stores in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini. Pepkor already operates some 5 975 stores.