Munro Footwear Group (MFG) has today finalised the acquisition of Australia’s oldest footwear brands, sealing the takeover of Fusion Retail Brands.

The deal sees Australian labels Williams, Mathers, Diana Ferrari and Colorado join brands such as Styletread, Wanted, Midas, Mollini, Mountfords and Django & Juliette under the same umbrella.

“Williams is Australia’s oldest footwear business founded in Ballarat in 1864. It is in good hands with the Munro family, which has been shaping the Australian shoe industry for 55 years,” said Jay Munro, MFG.

Fusion Group GM Phil Scala said both companies were excited about the opportunities that lay ahead for the footwear companies. “MFG shares our passion for shoes as well as the importance we place on our customers and our people. We are excited to be working with like-minded people with such a wealth of experience,” Scala said.

Munro said combining “MFG’s strength in product development with Fusion’s retail footprint and sourcing capabilities,”  will increase the footwear groups scale and market penetration.

Fusion has 195 stores nationwide and will boost MFG’s retail footprint to 290 and its 500-strong workforce to more than 2000 employees nationally.

It’s the seventh acquisition for MFG in the last decade, adding to the takeovers of online shoe retailer Styletread, Midas and Mollini, Mountfords and the Wanted Shoes chain.

“We don’t aim to be the biggest, but we do aim to be the best,” Munro said. “Bringing on the Fusion brands to the greater MFG group aligns with our strategy of growth through acquisition.”

The Munro Footwear Group started with a single label in 1962 and has grown into one of Australia’s leading retailers and wholesalers of footwear.

Now with the Fusion team, MFG said it had over 500 collective years of footwear experience within its senior management group.

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