JSE-listed clothing retailer, Truworths International, on Thursday said it will acquire South Africa-based Naartjie, the retailer of children’s clothing, from US-based owner, ZA One, for an undisclosed sum.

Naartjie is also a retailer of associated apparel under the Naartjie brand, founded in Cape Town, South Africa in 1989.

The brand embraces bright, colourful, kid-friendly clothes while also designing and selling ranges of clothing, accessories and footwear for new-born to 10-year-old children from 26 stores in premier shopping malls throughout South Africa. The proposed acquisition is conditional upon obtaining the required regulatory approvals, among other conditions.

The deal falls below the threshold of a categorised transaction in terms of the JSE Listings Requirements and the parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase consideration, which is to be settled in cash. The effective date of the acquisition is likely to be in the first quarter of next year.

Michael Mark, Truworths CEO, said Naartjie would add scale to Truworths’ kidswear offering, the prospects for which were recently enhanced by the announcement of the intended acquisition of the Earthchild business.

“I believe Naartjie has excellent growth potential after an initial consolidation phase and will reinforce our growth prospects in the kidswear market. Earthchild and Naartjie together with our highly-successful L.T.D Kids range enhance the Truworths children’s emporium brand appeal,” Mark said.

“We are committed to providing the necessary financial and other resources to place the Naartjie business on a sustainable footing and thereafter increase the number of outlets, introduce a credit facility for customers in due course, and possibly expand the operations beyond South Africa,” he added.

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