Australasian fund manager, Allegro Funds, has taken a controlling interest in New Zealand’s flooring retailer, Carpet Court, which has 60 outlets across the country.

Once sale conditions are met, Carpet Court will be recapitalised and its assets transferred to Carpet Court NZ Holdings, and the business will be bank debt free on completion of the deal.

Contrary to a recent media report, the Carpet Court business is in good health, recording a solid profit in the 2015 financial year.

Allegro cofounder, Chester Moynihan, will be the new chairman of Carpet Court NZ, which will retain key Kiwi talent at the top including accomplished Kiwi entrepreneur Stefan Preston as a non-executive director, retail expert Rob Smith as chief executive and the senior management team.

Allegro is looking to invest significantly in the roll out of its new store format and continue investment in centralised warehousing and distribution.

Allegro will be looking to retain all of the existing staff, and has secured full support of the existing management team.

Job growth is on the cards too, with an aggressive three-year growth strategy which will see the business add more Carpet Court stores nationwide.

This is Allegro’s second venture in the NZ market, following its acquisition of Cowley Services from the Hastie Group in 2012. NZ is a core part of Allegro’s investment mandate.

It represents the third investment in Allegro Fund II, a A$180 million fund which reached final close in June. The fund is backed by NZ and Australian institutional investors.