Dick Smith receivers install Don Grover as acting chief executive
Campaign launched to sell Dick Smith.
Retailing veteran Don Grover has been installed as interim chief executive by Dick Smith Holdings' receivers after the departure of Nick Abboud.
An advertising campaign has also been launched to sell the indebted consumer electronics chain.
Mr Abboud, installed as chief executive by former owner Anchorage Capital Partners, resigned last night.
Mr Grover, a former chief at Retail Fusion Brands and Dymocks Group as well as holding various operational roles at Australian retailer David Jones, will assist Ferrier Hodgson receivers James Stewart, Jim Sarantinos and Ryan Eagle and managers to run the business "as they work through the realisation and restructuring opportunities for the group and seek to sell it as a going concern."
Dick Smith's shares were suspended from trading on the ASX last week after its banking syndicate withdrew support and put the company in receivership. Secured creditors are owed about $A140 million and unsecured creditors about $A250 million.
The receivers have begun advertising Dick Smith for sale, having already received about 40 initial expressions of interest from various parties. They are seeking further expressions of interest by January 27 and will then draw up a short-list of interested buyers who will then undertake due diligence and submit formal offers, a process expected to take until "well into" February.
Dick Smith Holdings operates 393 stores across Australia and New Zealand under four brands, Dick Smith, Electronics powered by Dick Smith, Move, and Move by Dick Smith.
The stock last traded at 35.5Ac on the ASX, having tumbled 84% from the $A2.20 a share Anchorage Capital Partners set for its initial public offering in 2013.
It bought Dick Smith from Woolworths in 2012, in a deal reportedly valued at about $A115 million, before selling down in 2013 in an IPO that valued the company at A$520.3 million. Anchorage sold its remaining 20% in September 2014 for about $A2.22 a share.
(BusinessDesk)
Jonathan Underhill
Tue, 12 Jan 2016
Tue, 12 Jan 2016
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Dick Smith receivers install Don Grover as acting chief executive
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