Australian food company Maggie Beer acquires e-commerce gift basket business

Australian food company Maggie Beer acquires e-commerce gift basket business

Australian food company Maggie Beer has acquired Hampers & Gifts Australia (HGA) for $40 million to boost its e-commerce business, which grew 167% in just two weeks in December last year .

The Hamper Emporium is a luxury gift basket business with 10 years of e-commerce experience. Emily McWaters founded the company in 2010 and has worked with many well-known brands. In the last fiscal year, Hampers sold 125,000 gift baskets , mainly to corporate consumers.   McWaters' second business, Gifts Australia , sells gift products to a wider range of individual consumers and sold 64,000 items last financial year .

Maggie Beer has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire all of HGA’s shares, giving it ownership of Hampers & Gifts Australia (HGA) , with an upfront payment of $40 million to be paid half in cash and half in scrip , while the remaining $10 million is contingent on both businesses achieving a $10 million earnings target by the 2023 financial year .

ASX-listed Maggie Beer told its shareholders the acquisition was in line with its e-commerce and digital transformation strategy.

MBH's eponymous non - executive director Maggie Beer said : "What's most exciting to me is being able to have a direct connection with our customers, which is the advantage of selling online, and we can learn so much about each other! Hampers & Gifts Australia is the perfect partner for us to do this with . "

Emily McWaters, HGA co-founder and creative director, will continue in her role once the company is under MBH ownership. McWaters said : "There is a hugely mutually beneficial relationship between the two businesses and we look forward to working with Chantale and the team to create an even better customer experience . "

The combined group is expected to have annual revenue of more than $85 million.

It is understood that the trading halt of MBH shares will be lifted on Thursday, April 1, and the retail entitlement offer will end on April 19. The takeover will be voted on at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on May 13.

In the development of e-commerce, Maggie Beer pays more attention to product packaging design. When consumers receive the goods after online shopping, packaging is related to the extremely important first impression, and this kind of exquisite packaging is obviously more suitable for the luxury industry.

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