Freedom Furniture bought by Australian competitor

Freedom Furniture has been bought by a competing retailer. Photo / Supplied

Freedom Furniture has been snapped up by competing retailer Amart, according to media reports.

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported on Monday that Amart, which Quadrant Private Equity backs, intends to grow Freedom Furniture’s footprint from 60 stores in Australasia to between 80 and 100.

Freedom was sold by Greenlit Brands, an Australian subsidiary of Dutch-registered company Ibex Topco B.V., formerly known as Steinhoff International.

According to its website, Freedom has 13 stores in New Zealand.

“Our intent is to keep these [Amart and Freedom] completely separate. The magic is in the backend. We think the growth opportunity is huge,” Chadwick told the AFR.

“Freedom is an iconic furniture brand across Australia and New Zealand. The combination with Amart will enhance the product range we can offer customers.”

Amart did not respond to a request for comment.

Turnaround

In October, the AFR reported that Freedom had tapped advisers to prepare a sale for the third time in five years, after former Harvey Norman division chief Blaine Callard had successfully returned the business to profitability.

In February, Freedom Furniture NZ posted financial documents for the year to September 29.

The firm made a $1.2 million net profit, turning around a $9.2m net loss the previous year despite revenues falling 3.3% to $62.7m.

The company reported a net deficiency in assets exceeding $7.5m and a negative working capital of $6.2m.

Quadrant Private Equity is one of Australia’s largest private equity firms. It has raised more than A$10 billion across 15 funds.