Always a bit dubious when it comes to short-tenure private...

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    Always a bit dubious when it comes to short-tenure private equity plays - what's their end goal holding for a year before flipping it? In and out for quick profits, yet expecting holders to be committed long term? I also noticed in the time that Anacacia has held the business, the footprint (according to the website) still appears to stand at 10 sales and distribution centres - so unless I'm wrong, and I very well could be because I also haven't been able to find the prospectus yet, I'm not quite seeing the fruition of these "smaller timber and hardware players" which were pegged for acquisition. That or it's not very well communicated to prospective customers. We'll need the documentation for a closer look, and to see exactly what (if anything) Anacacia has invested in this period, whether they've stripped costs, and/or if growth has been organic.

    Other concern, based on what the article above had been pitching as an attractive proposition at the time, is that Mitre 10 and Home Timber Hardware are now tied up under Metcash. I know they're not exactly competing in the same segments, but I'd be curious to know more about what's now the drawcard to not only attract new customers (tradies), but also retain existing ones against the scale of Metcash's $2bn tie-up - the integration actually sees a higher trade sales (+5%) split for MTS than it was previously. News came through just a couple days ago that the integration is seemingly going well. They plan to roll over re-investment programs that have delivered above average sales growth for Mitre 10 into the Home Timber Hardware brand.

    Maybe the timing is pure coincidence but with MTS recently giving brokers some confidence, and effectively at a 12 month high, again I'm left wondering why Anacacia want to flip this so soon?

    All in all, just my thoughts and ramblings - not exactly what you asked, but I think considerations that are worth mulling.

    *disclaimer: holding MTS (unfortunately)
    Last edited by Nomadic_Investor: 25/03/17
 
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