Baby Bunting is Australia’s leading baby goods retailer operating 50 stores across Australia with a market capitalisation of approximately $450m.
Baby Bunting was looking for growth capital to enable its vision of becoming a national ‘category killer’’ in the baby goods market. At the time they operated 6 stores, all based in Victoria and had an annual turnover of $40 million.
The Chairman, founder and executive team identified an opportunity to bring on an equity partner that shared their vision to become a dominant baby goods retailer. Without a defined exit timeline, they saw TDM as a partner they could trust to help them make decisions that were in the long term best interests of the business, to ensure they scaled the right way.
Importantly there was real alignment from the leadership on their emphasis on how people and culture could be a clear and sustainable long term competitive advantage in their vision for a national roll out. It was the people on the ground that were going to ensure the success and a defined culture was integral to this.
TDM was on the board from June 2009 until March 2017. After becoming the largest shareholder in 2011 (46%), TDM helped guide the leadership team through their IPO on the ASX in October 2015.
Over the 11 years of partnership, TDM rolled up the sleeves and assisted the business achieve its objectives. Examples include the recruitment of numerous executives and board members, developing appropriate short and long term management incentive plans, shareholder communications, capital management as well as M&A advice. Importantly, TDM was very hands on the preparation of the business for IPO.
While on the board, Baby Bunting fulfilled its vision of becoming a ”category killer” in the Australian market, with it now being 20 times larger than its nearest competitor. It has grown from 6 stores to 50, while revenue has grown from $40 million to over $360 million.
This case study highlights the benefit of aligned values on taking a long term view and scaling a business the right way. We are pleased to have helped Baby Bunting successfully navigate a highly competitive landscape, and could not be more proud of management and the board in executing their vision.
TDM retained 82% of its shareholding at IPO and remained active on the Board up until mid 2017. By Auguest 2018, when TDM fully exited its investment, TDM’s return including dividends was approximately 9x initial investment
