Blackstone bids for SingPost’s Aussie assets | Freedom Furniture sale in stealth m ode | Flagstaff banker moves on

Good evening,

Third time’s a charm for Freedom Furniture, the furniture and homewares retailer controlled by Michael Ford’s Greenlit Brands.

Street Talk understands Freedom is set to quietly test the market’s appetite for a comeback story, putting the retailer in front of buyers for the third time since 2019. This comes four years after former Harvey Norman boss Blaine Callard led a turnaround of the chain, overhauling its range and relaunching the brand and website in an attempt to rebuild sales and restore it to profitability.

Sources said Callard will lead the potential sale in-house – for now – and emphasised the informal nature of the process. While it’s still early days, the business is being pitched as turning over $400 million and $10 million EBITDA.

Turnaround and distressed private equity specialists like Anchorage Capital Partners and Allegro Funds are the obvious buyers of Freedom, the latter of which nabbed Greenlit’s Best & Less and Harris Scarfe in December 2019. Anchorage famously snagged department store chain David Jones at a 75 per cent discount in 2023.

The Greenlit Brands entity was created in 2018 to own the Australian and NZ household retail brands and manufacturing operations of Steinhoff International, after the Steinhoff parent was enveloped in an offshore financial scandal involving accounting irregularities. This was not connected to the Australian operations.

Blackstone’s local dealmakers – led by Michael Blickstead – submitted a non-binding indicative offer last week for Singapore Post’s Australian assets, which are said to be making $100 million at the earnings line.

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