Barbeques Galore
| Sector | Consumer and Retail |
|---|---|
| Industry | Specialist Retailer of Barbeques |
| Location | Australia and USA |
| Investment Date | October 2005 |
| Original Deal Size | A$88m |
Company Description
Barbeques Galore is a leading specialty retailer of barbeques and barbeque accessories. The Fund acquired Barbeques Galore in October 2005 by way of a public-to-private of the NASDAQ listed parent company.
Investment Rationale
Major attractions of the opportunity were:
- Leading brand and strong market position, with the business having a market share of approximately 27% in Australia and being the leading specialist barbeque retailer in the US.
- Operational improvement opportunities in both the US and Australia.
- Significant new store roll-out opportunity in the US over the long term.
- A range of exit opportunities.
Ironbridge Value Added
The key value added from the Ironbridge team was as follows:
- Ironbridge originally identified the opportunity and cold-called the vendor.
- The Ironbridge Portfolio Team developed the business plan with management and worked full time implementing the 100 day plan, "caretaking" the merchandise function and developing a comprehensive network plan for further store rollout.
- In response to the difficult trading conditions being experienced in the US market, Ironbridge separated the management of the US and Australian businesses in 2007, collapsing the previous group structure.
- Ironbridge proactively reduced costs in the Australian business as its sales in turn were impacted by the economic downturn in 2008, leading to record profits in 2009.
- The impact of the increased focus of our new management team on in-store selling disciplines and marketing initiatives has led to very strong same store revenue growth in 2011. In addition, a range of profit improvement and growth initiatives led by the Ironbridge Portfolio Team are in place to support revenue and earnings growth heading into fiscal 2012.
