![]() Main products: Mid-market clothing and youth-focused stationery. However, compared to other retailers, Premier’s share price has proven resilient, dropping “only” 30 per cent over the past six months – better than other retailers such as Adairs, Kogan, and City Chic, which have fallen 50 per cent or more. ![]() The shares have fallen from a peak of $32.60 in October, as the business has not been immune from broader market turmoil. How it’s going: Premier is sitting on a $3.2 billion valuation, with its shares trading at about $20 – up 600 per cent since 2000. It wasn’t until 2008 when Premier acquired Just Group for $900 million that the company became primarily a retailer, a stance that is further bolstered by the company’s near 30 per cent stake in appliance manufacturer and seller Breville, and a 20 per cent stake in department store Myer. How it started: Premier first listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 1987 as Lew’s investment company, operating as an acquisition company with a goal of buying and selling stakes in various businesses. However, with inflation soaring and consumer confidence faltering, can a company like Premier keep performing? Today, Lew has (somewhat) slowed down his corporate dealmaking and has focused instead on running ASX-listed retail sector investment company Premier Investments, which owns a swathe of popular fashion brands, including Peter Alexander, Just Jeans, and Dotti, as well as popular stationery seller Smiggle.Ī $3.2 billion business, Premier has long been a popular stock for investors big and small, with many relying on the expertise of Lew and his recently appointed chief executive and former JB Hi-Fi boss Richard Murray, to make the right calls when times are tough. The 77-year-old has earned himself the accolade after a long run of savvy business transactions, including pocketing $1.1 billion from Wesfarmers’ 2007 purchase of Coles, and hundreds of millions of dollars from the South African takeover of department store David Jones seven years later. If you were to run a straw poll among investors on who should claim the title of “Australia’s greatest retailer”, veteran businessman Solomon Lew would likely be an odds-on favourite.
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