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  • Footwear retailer Accent Group (AX1) is set to acquire youth apparel retailer Glue Store and distribution business Next Athleisure (NAL) for $13 million
  • Accent will acquire all 21 Glue Store businesses and its 500,000-member strong loyalty program
  • Glue Store generates annual sales of roughly $90 million, including $16.6 million in online sales
  • The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of May and Accent will pay for the acquisition using its existing finances
  • Accent will also acquire all of Next Athleisure’s brands and will integrate them into its own business, creating a new division of AX1
  • The company has also re-appointed Brett Blundy as Non-Executive Director, effective immediately
  • Accent is up 6.15 per cent on the market and shares are trading at $2.76

Footwear retailer Accent Group (AX1) is set to acquire youth apparel retailer Glue Store and distribution business Next Athleisure (NAL) for $13 million.

Accent will acquire all 21 Glue Store businesses and its 500,000-member strong loyalty program.

Glue Store generates annual sales of roughly $90 million, including $16.6 million in online sales.

Accent will also acquire all of Next Athleisure’s brands which include Beyond Her, Ellesse, Superga, Sebago and Kappa.

The NAL business will become a new division of AX1 and will be named Accent Lifestyle. Additionally, Darren Todd, the current CEO of NAL, will join Accent as Group General Manager of Accent Lifestyle.

“The move to Accent ownership represents a strong strategic alignment for the Next Athleisure business and the right next phase in the Next Athleisure growth plan that the team has been driving over the last two years,” Darren stated.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of May and Accent will pay for the acquisition using its existing finances.

“The NAL acquisition is perfectly aligned to our strategy to grow our leadership position in the lifestyle and youth apparel market in Australia and New Zealand,” Accent CEO Daniel Agostinelli said.

“We see significant opportunity to leverage Accent’s retail expertise to improve the Glue Store customer experience and store profitability. The youth apparel market is highly fragmented with significant opportunity to grow the store network and capture market share over time,” he added.

Accent has also re-appointed Brett Blundy as Non-Executive Director, effective immediately.

“Brett’s considerable experience acquired over many years of building and growing successful vertical branded businesses will provide valuable strategic insight and direction as Accent Group accelerates its strategy to grow both owned vertical brands and a strong presence in the youth and street apparel market,” Chairman David Gordon concluded.

Accent is up 6.15 per cent on the market and shares are trading at $2.76 at 11:44 am AEST.

AX1 by the numbers
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