Serious questions are being asked as to why Woolworths acquired a controlling shareholding in online site MyDeal a deal worth $243M last week.
The price equated to 3.8 times forecast revenue for the loss-making group during the 2022 financial year.
The move comes as Kogan, and Catch the Wesfarmers owned business struggle in the e-commerce market which is witnessing record falls following the opening of retail stores after COVID.
Wesfarmers whose shares are down 15% during the past 12 months is facing more record losses in with Catch failing to deliver a profit.
The business acquired by Wesfarmers for $230 million in 2019 last reported a loss of $43-45 million for the six months to 31 December 2021, which is $1 million shy of its losses for the entire FY21 calendar year.
Kogan has seen their share value fall 63% during the last 12 months with the shares trading yesterday at $3.64, 12 months ago they were trading at $13.
Last week Woolworths announced an agreement to purchase 80 per cent of online marketplace MyDeal for $1.05 per share, a 63 per cent premium to the company’s last traded share price.
The deal also includes taking on debt.
Credit Suisse analysts were particularly harsh, suggesting that the transaction appeared to add no value to Woolworths and seemed contrary to the expectations of some investors for a return of surplus cash.