Australia's Online Retailer Gets $80M Investment
Australia's James Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings, Seek co-founder Andrew Bassat and American hedge fund Tiger Global have invested some $80 million in online retail giant called Catch of the Day.
Tech investments have gained unusual interest from investors recently with the successful listing of Linkedin last Friday.
The investment marks the second online retail-related venture for Packer, who pumped millions into Deals Direct last month through his Ellerston Capital firm more than a month ago.
Entrepreneurial site smartcompany.com.au said the new investment will put the online retailer with a value of $200 million and can expand further its product offerings.
Investors say they were attracted to the company's scope and the founders' knowledge of the current retail environment.
"What was immediately apparent when we started discussions with the Leibovich brothers was their deep understanding of the space and what was required to build a globally competitive eCommerce group," Fixel said in a statement.
James Packer also added that "unlike many other players in the market", Catch of the Day is able to turn a profit due to the right skills, supplier networks and "economies of scale".
The consortium of investors includes Tiger Global, Consolidated Press Holdings, Andrew Bassat and Gannet Capital head Glen Poswell. Gabby and Hezi Leibovich will own a controlling stake in the business, but Tiger's Lee Fixel and Seek's Jason Lenga will join the board.
Currently Catch of the Day, which incorporates the Scoopon group-buying site, is turning over about $100 million and is five years old. No doubt the group of investors would be eager for its traffic and database - it has 150,000 visitors a day and hundreds of thousands of names on their email lists, smartcompany.com said.