A failed Australian experiment on Britain’s high street has revived the spectre of retail disaster in political and business circles as another major takeover threat from Down Under begins to gather pace.
At the centre of renewed comparisons is Bunnings, Australia’s dominant warehouse-style DIY chain, which once tried to reshape a well-known UK retailer after a high-profile acquisition.
When it entered Britain in 2017 through a £340m purchase of Homebase, the plan was to transplant its own model wholesale into the UK market.
The strategy quickly ran into trouble.
Within two years, it had unravelled completely.
By 2018, Wesfarmers, the group behind Bunnings, had written off hundreds of millions of pounds and sold Homebase for just £1.
What had looked from Australia like a simple underperforming chain proved to be something far more complex in Britain.
“Homebase was a very feminine DIY store,” said Clive Black, a veteran retail analyst.
Rather than focusing on trade-heavy DIY customers, Homebase had developed into a softer, lifestyle-led retailer, selling home décor, furnishings, garden products and houseplants.
“These guys came in and basically tried to turn it into an aggressive, very male-orientated trade counter builders’ merchant,” Black said. “It was a total and utter disaster.”
That experience is now being revisited as attention turns to another potential Australian bid for a major British retail name, reports the Telegraph.
Sigma Healthcare, the Australian-listed group behind Chemist Warehouse, was revealed last week to be among those exploring a possible offer for Boots, the 177-year-old UK pharmacy chain, in a deal that could value it at around £7.5bn.
Sigma’s growing interest in Boots comes as the Australian group steps up efforts to expand its footprint beyond its domestic market.
The company was formed through the merger of Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare, completed last year, creating an enlarged pharmacy group operating across Australia and New Zealand under multiple retail banners.
A key force behind its international push is Mario Verrocchi, co-founder of Chemist Warehouse and one of Australia’s most influential figures in the pharmacy sector.
Verrocchi has previously spoken in favourable terms about Boots. In interviews with the Australian Financial Review, he has described the UK chain as an early influence on the development of Chemist Warehouse and has consistently highlighted Britain’s pharmacy market as a long-term area of interest.
The group has already made a small entry into the UK through Green Light Pharmacy, a London-based chain that has begun transitioning to the Chemist Warehouse brand.
Acquiring Boots would represent a far more significant step, although uncertainty remains over how Sigma would ultimately approach the business if a deal were completed.