Booktopia resumes trading after being sold to owner of online camera store digiDirect
Booktopia is taking orders again after Australia’s largest online bookseller was sold to the owner of an online camera store in a deal completed late last week.
Shant Kradjian, the owner of camera store digiDirect, bought the bookseller, according to administrators McGrathNicol, resulting in the immediate resumption of trading.
“The transaction will result in the retention of all remaining employees, the recruitment of some 100 additional employees and continuity of supply for Booktopia’s trade creditors,” the McGrathNicol partner Keith Crawford said on Monday.
Booktopia fell into administration in July amid persistent weakness in the sector that it attributed to cost-of-living pressures on customers, more online competition and a volatile market.
The listed bookseller had been shedding staff consistently leading up to its collapse.
While the purchase has revived the bookseller, the sale price “will not be sufficient to provide for a return to shareholders”, according to the administrators.
Booktopia listed on the ASX in late 2020. Its shares traded at just under $3 shortly after listing, as investor demand for e-commerce companies soared early in the pandemic.
The administrators said Kradjian and his team moved quickly to secure the purchase.
“Booktopia has been a key part of Australia’s publishing industry for 20 years, and transitioning the business to such a well-known Australian retailer is a great outcome for all stakeholders,” Crawford said.
Kradjian founded digiDirect in 2006 as a camera and imaging specialist retailer. It has expanded to become one of Australia’s biggest consumer electronic stores.