Solomon Lew ups his stake in Myer to near 20 per cent as ‘end game’ looms

Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments could soon move in for the kill in its five-year-old siege of department store chain Myer after lifting its stake to just under 20 per cent.

Premier Investments chairman and retail billionaire Solomon Lew has increased his stake in the big retailer owner Myer to just under 20 per cent. What is next, the market wonders. Picture: Aaron Francis / The Australian

Billionaire retailer Solomon Lew could be moving to end his five year siege of Myer after upping his stake in the retailer to just under 20 per cent – giving him a powerful position to sweep out the board and launch a takeover bid.

Mr Lew has fought vicious public battles with the Myer board since 2017, when his Premier Investments vehicle grabbed a 10.77 per cent stake in the chain for $101m. In that time, he has sought to eject Myer directors and savaged the department store for its poor financial performance.

In July, Premier Investments increased its stake to 15.77 per cent following another buying spree on the market. Mr Lew had stopped short of making a full takeover for the 122 year old famous retail chain, but has chosen now to push up his stake to just beneath the threshold where he will be forced to make an offer to all shareholders if he wants to quickly move further up the share register.

Premier Investments, whose other retail brands include Smiggle, Portmans, Just Jeans, Doti and Peter Alexander, has now spent more than $132m in five years to build up its stake in Myer. Documents lodged with the ASX revealing Premier Investments now has amassed a 19.88 per cent holding. The move will send a shiver down the collective spines of Myer directors who have come very close in the past to being ejected from the board at Myer annual meetings after Mr Lew rallied other shareholders to his side.

Now with almost 20 per cent of Myer in his pocket, Mr Lew could act quickly to call an extraordinary meeting within weeks to throw out directors and install his own hand-picked candidates.

Premier Investments revealed it was the mystery buyer last week of a large tranche in Myer shares after market close on Tuesday.

The notice shows that Premier Investments bought 33.781m shares in Myer, spending just over $15m for the stock, representing an average price of around 44 cents per share. A spokeswoman for Mr Lew was unavailable for comment, while Myer declined to comment on Tuesday.

Mr Lew had been seeking for years to install his own candidates on the board. On the day of the company’s annual meeting in 2020 its then chairman Garry Hounsell resigned from the board when it appeared certain he would lose his re-election bid after Premier Investments and other smaller shareholders moved against him.

Last week, Myer has warned that the jump in Covid-19 infections has led to a sharp deterioration of trading conditions, but has stopped short of following other retailers by downgrading profit forecasts. The company said sales for the five months from August to the end of December rose 12.3 per cent compared to the previous period despite shops being closed for more days.