An insolvency notice on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s website indicated that on 9 January 2015, a company called Diva International had appointed Brenden Hughes of Sydney-based chartered accountant firm Boroughs Australia as its liquidator.
When Jeweller approached Hughes for comment, he said he was not authorised to disclose further details on the relationship between Diva International and the Diva jewellery brand. However, publicly listed information on the Australian Business Register showed the company was registered under the trading name BB Retail Concepts in April 2008 before being renamed Diva International the following month.
It was widely known that the Diva jewellery brand had fallen under the portfolio of BB Retail Capital (BBRC), a private investment company owned by retail mogul Brett Blundy.
Online news site SmartCompany reported that when contacted, the liquidator declined to comment other than to say the company he had been appointed to liquidate was “not the main trading entity” of Diva.
What’s more, a company listing on Bloomberg Businessweek stated: “Diva International Pty Ltd operates a chain of fashion jewellery retail stores for women in Australia and New Zealand.”
Since Jeweller broke the news in May 2014 that Diva stores had steadily begun to close, minimal information has emerged on the status of the fashion jewellery brand.
At the time of publication, the business, which once boasted the opening of 500 stores in less than a decade, still had a Facebook page stating it was “currently in the process of consolidating [its] network”. This was despite the fact that its Australian website had long been non-operational and a large number, if not all, of its stores had been shut down or converted into retail outlets for the brand’s “sister” chain, Lovisa.
BBRC did not respond to Jeweller’s requests for clarification but it seemed apparent the company had shifted focus to the development of Lovisa.
In December, the company took Lovisa public in what media reports indicated to be a very successful share market debut. BBRC traded down its 82 per cent stake in the business to 41 per cent in order to generate $210 million market capital. It was said the move would fund what the company’s website described as “the fastest specialty store expansion ever seen globally”.
Lovisa currently operates more than 220 stores across eight countries.
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