Card Factory gains foothold in South Africa through acquisition of SA Greetings
Card Factory has gained a foothold in the South African market with the acquisition of SA Greetings.
The greeting card retailer has purchased SA Greetings Corporation and its subsidiaries for a sum of £2.5 million.
SA Greetings is the leading wholesaler of greeting cards and gift packaging in South Africa. It also operates 24 ‘Cardies’ stores and has a further four retail outlets operated by franchisees. It also owns and operates a roll-wrap production facility.
The company’s head office and main warehouse are situated in Johannesburg, but it also has sales offices in Durban and Cape Town. It will continue to be led by managing director Willie Engelbrecht following the acquisition.
South Africa is one of Card Factory’s target territories for partnership expansion. Card Factory said the purchase will provide access to key wholesale accounts through SA Greetings’ printing, merchandising and warehousing capacity.
Darcy Willson-Rymer, chief executive of Card Factory, said; “SA Greetings brings with it significant experience operating a wholesale business, which can inform and support development of our retail partnership business, and is entirely aligned with Card Factory’s strategic plan for international expansion.
“As well as giving us a foothold into our target South African market, we will also be using their mature printing, merchandising and warehousing facilities to understand how we can deliver similar local capability in other target markets.”
