Australian online retail group CatchOfTheDay and parent company of CatchOfTheDay.com.au and Scoopon.com.au has announced an investment from James Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH) along with New York-based Tiger Global Management, Andrew Bassat, co-founder and CEO of SEEK and founder of Gannet Capital, Glen Poswell.
The consortium, whose investment is believed to be around $80 million, will control 40 per cent of the deals business, while co-founders of CatchOfTheDay, Gabby and Hezi Leibovich, will retain a controlling share. Lee Fixel from Tiger Global and Jason Lenga from Seek will be joining the board.
Lee Fixel, managing director of Tiger Global said, “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 e-commerce group – particularly the importance of building strong supplier and procurement networks and investment in technology to remain innovative and agile.”
James Packer added: “Unlike many other players in the market, the team’s proven experience in building profitable e-commerce businesses, means they have the skills, supplier networks and economies of scale to keep growing and leading the market. We are excited to align ourselves with the market leader in the online daily deals sector in Australia.”
According to Gabby Leibovich, despite the growth of the daily deals industry, Australia’s online retailing industry is still in its infancy, which is one reason they considered investment from international partners.
“It is still early days in Australia when it comes to online retail and to support our next phase of growth we were open to overseas investors who could share a different perspective into the online retail market, as well as bring new skills, advice and contacts to further our growth and expansion.”
“The investment consortium of Tiger Global, CPH, Andrew Bassat and Glenn Poswell possess a true passion for the internet. Through our relationships with them we are able to access a wealth of advice, experience, and extensive contacts – both local and international – to propel our business forward. We look forward to working with them,” said Leibovich.
The funding will be used to support the group’s continued growth within the daily deals industry and along with their continued expansion into new markets as well as new technology to meet the needs of their customers.
Read More: Scoopon Profile
