Clicks to buy up Sorbet chain

• Deal for R105m will give it full ownership of franchise with more than 190 outlets under various brands

Pharmacy group Clicks is to buy the national beauty salon chain Sorbet, it says. The deal, worth R105m, will result in Clicks taking ownership of the franchise, which has more than 190 outlets across SA.

Pharmacy group Clicks is to buy the national beauty salon chain Sorbet, it said on Thursday.

The deal, worth R105m, will result in Clicks taking ownership of the franchise, which has more than 190 outlets operating across SA under its various brands, including Sorbet, Sorbet Man and Candi & Co.

It will primarily earn money from fees charged to individually owned stores.

Clicks first acquired a 25% stake in 2015 in the Sorbet brands, the smaller division of which holds the Sorbet intellectual property, and its products such as nail polish that are sold in Clicks stores.

Long4Life, under entrepreneur Brian Joffe, paid R116m for 100% of the franchise, which had just under 200 stores in 2017.

The lower sale price five years later may be explained by the challenges Sorbet stores — which offer beauty treatments such as manicures, and hair cuts

— faced during the early part of the Covid-19 pandemic, when stores earned little to no income as they were closed for more than two months.

Later in 2020, it was hampered by lockdown distancing regulations limiting how many clients could be in a store. In 2021, outlets saw a gradual return of customers as fear of close contact subsided.

Stores now face an increasingly constrained consumer, with less discretionary income. The R105m purchase price is only about 5% of the R2bn cash that Clicks had in the bank at the end of its financial year to endAugust.

Clicks CEO Bertina Engelbrecht said Sorbet was a strategic fit and aligns with its beauty and wellness offering.

“Sorbet is a highly trusted brand with a loyal and growing customer base, and we aim to capitalise on the opportunities to expand our presence together and accelerate revenue growth.”

Sorbet Group CEO Linda Sinclair said: “Clicks has played an instrumental role in supporting the growth of Sorbet into becoming the leading professional beauty and grooming franchise brand in SA.”

Sorbet, founded by Ian Fuhr in 2005, is being bought from Old Mutual Private Equity, which acquired the business as part of the previously listed Long4Life group in 2022.

Old Mutual Private Equity cohead Jacci Myburgh said: “As

AS SORBET IS BELOW THE SIZE ... WE WOULD TYPICALLY HOLD, OUR INTENT WAS ALWAYS TO SELL [IT] TO AN APPROPRIATE OWNER

Sorbet is below the size of investment that we would typically hold, our intent was always to sell the business to an appropriate owner. Clicks is a very logical owner of Sorbet, given that it is an existing joint venture stakeholder in the Sorbet brand,” Myburgh said.

The transaction is subject to approval by the Competition Tribunal.

Jacci Myburgh Old Mutual Private Equity co-head