Woolworths Sells Dick Smith Electronics

Australian retail giant, Woolworths (ASX:WOW) has sold Dick Smith Electronic to Anchorage Capital Partners for $20 million.

• In the ASX stockmarket announcement, Woolworths said that it had signed a share sale agreement for 100 percent of the Dick Smith Electronics subsidiary to Sydney based Anchorage Capital Partners.
• Dick Smith electronics has 325 stores with 4,500 employees.
• As part of the strategy to offload Dick Smith, Woolworths took a $420 million impairment charge on its financial books.
• The private equity firm has appointed Nick Abboud as Chief Executive of Dick Smith, a former Myer executive.
• Woolworths has also sold Woolworths Wholesale in India to Infiniti Retail for $35 million.
• In 2011/2012 financial year, Dick Smith had a turnover of $1.4 billion.
• Woolworths chief executive Grant O'Brien said, "We announced the company's strategic priorities in November 2011, which included a review of our portfolio of assets, particularly our participation in the consumer electronics category, with a view to maximising shareholder value. These businesses were a small part of Woolworths and this divestment will allow us to be fully-focused on the core parts of our business."