and the current challenging macroeconomic backdrop, it has delivered another record sales result.  Now, Lew’s Premier Investments is exploring a possible demerger of Peter Alexander during the 2025 calendar year.  Peter Alexander goes abroad  The goal is to launch Peter Alexander on the ASX in 2025 but not before taking the iconic Australian brand international. The pyjama brand and its mascot Penny are set to touchdown in the United Kingdom with two bricks-and-mortar stores and a dedicated UK website just in time for the Christmas shopping period this year. This will be the first time Peter Alexander ventures outside of Australia and New Zealand since its failed entry into the US market in 2008. Some analysts have described Peter Alexander as an “unproven” brand outside of Australian and New Zealand markets.  While Peter Alexander was not part of Premier Investments at the time it set out to enter the US market, there has been a lot of speculation as to why the brand didn’t resonate with US customers. After Lew’s Premier Investments acquired the Just Group, and with it Peter Alexander, he shut down the US stores in 2009, saying it “reflects the board’s commitment to take the decisions that are necessary to maximise returns for shareholders”. But now after strengthening the brand’s bottom line, it appears Premier Investments under Lew’s leadership is finally ready for international growth. Peter Alexander has identified up to 10 store opportunities in the short term as part of the initial launch plans into the UK but it has not specified if these are high street or shopping centre locations. The UK market shares more similarities with the Australian market than the US market except for the prevalence of high street shopping which is not Premier Investment’s common place of trade. Replicating the success of Smiggle It appears that Peter Alexander is set to follow in Smiggle’s footsteps with a blueprint of expanding internationally before demerging from Premier Investments. “The ongoing strategic review has identified that the potential demerger of Smiggle and Peter Alexander is likely to maximise and accelerate the growth opportunities for these two brands over time,” stated Lew. Both Smiggle and Peter Alexander are two of the strongest brands Premier Investment has in its stable with the majority of the other brands proving less dynamic with target demographics. “There’s a number of people in the market predicting that the parts are worth more than the whole and if that’s the case we have to act in the best interest of the shareholders,” said Lew. Smiggle international expansion has proven successful for Premier Investments’ shareholders with its offshore expansion after delivering sales of $183.9 million for its first-half sales results. “We have a track record in the UK because we took Smiggle there over a decade ago and have been very, very successful,” said Lew. The offshore expansion comprises a mixture of owned stores and its evolving wholesale channel which includes both store-in-store and stand-alone stores – a mix that proves difficult for apparel. Moreover, Premier Investments has not had to tackle the seasonality of the UK market, an element that defines apparel and pyjama collections. “There is nothing like the Peter Alexander in the UK – we’ve had our most senior management over there […] reviewing the market and […] we’re at the point where we see that there is a huge opportunity,” Lew concluded.