Billionaire retailer Solomon Lew has lifted his stake in Myer to 22.87 per cent after share spree

The billionaire’s Premier Investments now owns 22.87 per cent, but will he launch a takeover or demand board seats?

Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew and CEO Richard Murray, at a Smiggle store. Picture: Ian Currie

Solomon Lew is creeping up the share register of Myer, tightening his grip on the company he has pursued for five years.

On Monday after the market close, Premier Investments, the $3.4bn fashion and clothing conglomerate Mr Lew controls, revealed it was the buyer of 24.5m shares in Myer last week that was sold for an average of 50c per share. That took its stake to 22.87 per cent. Previously, Premier was sitting on 19.88 per cent of Myer.

A notice to the ASX from Premier showed it had bought 24.5m shares for $12.25m.

Using the creep provisions to rise up the share register so as not to launch a full takeover for the retailer, Mr Lew’s Premier had been sitting at the threshold since February. It was only allowed last month to snap up another maximum 3 per cent in Myer.

Premier, whose other brands include Smiggle, Portmans, Just Jeans, Dotti and Peter Alexander, has now spent more than $130m in five years to build up its stake.

Premier, now by far the largest shareholder on a register dominated by smaller investors, could soon demand Myer board seats.

In 2017 – the opening plays of Mr Lew’s campaign – he tried to parachute three candidates onto the board, but failed to get broader shareholder support. At that time he held only just over 10 per cent of the company.

Billionaire Solomon Lew has been stalking Myer for five years and now owns almost one quarter of the company after the most recent raid on its share register. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

With almost one quarter of the Myer company in his back pocket Mr Lew could call an extraordinary general meeting and use his own block of shares – as well as rallying smaller shareholders – to kick out the Myer board and replace them with his candidates.

It was only in February that Premier, which is 42 per cent controlled by Mr Lew, revealed it had moved its Myer stake to just under 20 per cent – giving him then 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 Premier grabbed a 10.77 per cent stake in the chain for $101m. In July 2021 Premier increased its stake to 15.77 per cent following another buying spree on the market.

In that time, he has sought to eject Myer directors, publicly called the former chairman Garry Hounsell a “liar” and continually savaged the department store for its poor financial performance.

The latest grab for shares by Mr Lew, who has a long history with the department store including being the chairman of retail conglomerate Coles Myer in the late 1990s, comes just as Myer’s fortunes seem to be turning around.

After years of underperforming, Myer revealed two weeks ago that it had emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic in its strongest financial state for years, with full-year net profit for the 2022 financial year forecast to double.

Originally published as Billionaire retailer Solomon Lew has lifted his stake in Myer to 22.87 per cent after share spree