Benzinga | Aug 20, 2021 06:22AM EDT

Naked Group 6-K Shows Chair's Address To Annual Meeting Of Shareholders

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This year has marked the transformation of Naked. With the divestiture of the bricks-and-mortar operations of Bendon we have solidified our balance sheet following the completion of multiple strategic capital financings resulting in a net cash position of $270 million after repayment of all previous bank debt .



Naked has realigned its leadership team with the re-appointment of Mr. Davis-Rice as CEO and appointment of Simon Tripp, a seasoned investment banker and M&A executive, to the Board of Directors. Mr. Tripp has over 30 years of diversified business, capital markets and investment banking experience, managing both public and private companies across various sectors.



We also appointed Mr. Mark Ziirsen as Chief Financial Officer, a finance executive with 30 years of financial and operational experience. Mark has extensive experience with public company finance as a corporate officer and audit committee member. His executive career spans senior finance leadership roles with major ASX listed companies.



The closing of the Bendon divestiture represents a key milestone in Naked's corporate history. It has been a very long journey with many challenges that our management team had to overcome from an operational and financing perspective. I strongly believe we did what was best for our shareholders and have now positioned Naked with the necessary capital and structure to drive shareholder value in the coming months and years. We have a strong balance sheet, no debt and an asset-light operating model and we see a very favourable M&A environment around the globe.



Before we begin with the formal portion of the shareholder's meeting, I know many of you are eager for an update on the status of our plans to find a merger or acquisition partner. As we have said previously, we believe our strong cash position and tremendous shareholder base are assets that make Naked a highly attractive partner. Whilst many smaller opportunities exist and would seem easier to execute quickly, we have always believed and still strongly believe our attributes afford us the right to be selective seeking to partner with a substantial company, one that is an industry leader, with compelling growth prospects and disruptive technology.



Over the past several months, our management has travelled extensively, meeting with companies that potentially meet those criteria. I am delighted to confirm we believe we have found such a company. We have recently reached preliminary agreement on non-binding terms and are now conducting due diligence. The company is in a sector which has been forecast to have strong growth for many decades to come. There is, of course, no guarantee that we will complete the deal, on the preliminary terms we have negotiated, or at all.