Solomon Lew ties together retail brands to build brick-and-mortar empire

Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments and department store Myer, in which Lew is the largest shareholder, have combined their brick-and-mortar assets to create an Australian retail behemoth.

Technically, Myer is buying Premier’s Apparel Brands – 719 retail stores across five well-known brands: Just Jeans, Dotti, Jays Jay, Portman’s, and Jacqui E – for 890.5 million Myer shares. Premier Investments will, in turn, pump $82 million in cash into Myer to fund the merger.

Based on Myer’s closing price of 97c before the deal was announced, the deal is worth $864 million. Once complete, Premier shareholders will hold 51.5% of Myer.