MySale Group buys personalised gifts retailer Identity Direct for AU$3m

Malaysian online retailer MySale Group has bought Identity Direct, an Australian personalised gifts retailer, for about AU$3m.

AIM-listed MySale has paid A$2.69m to the administrators of Identity Direct and Ortega Publishing and will pay AU$250,000 on the finalisation of certain post-completion matters, from existing cash resources.

Identity Direct produces personalised gifts and has partnered with brands including, Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon and Mattel. The acquisition includes a small, skilled workforce, stock and customer lists as well as a leasehold production centre in Auckland, New Zealand.

The company believes that Identity Direct will establish it in a growing market with barriers to entry, complement its existing customer base, leverage sunk marketing costs and improve customer data collection.

It will reduce operating costs by combining shared services, improving shipping rates and reducing payment processing costs and there will be opportunities to drive revenue by cross marketing to Australasia customers and targeting south-east Asian markets.

Chief executive Carl Jackson said: ''This acquisition will allow us to build an additional revenue stream that is very complementary to our existing core activities.

''We believe that MySale's strength and expertise as an online retailer of scale will bring many benefits to Identity Direct which in turn will unlock significant opportunities and efficiencies hitherto unavailable to that business.''

Shares in MySale were up 3.13% to 110.35p at 0807 BST.