{"id":90695,"date":"1999-12-31T00:36:00","date_gmt":"1999-12-30T13:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smartoffice.com.au\/e3-style-up-for-sale-as-legal-fights-eats-into-profits\/"},"modified":"1999-12-31T00:36:00","modified_gmt":"1999-12-30T13:36:00","slug":"e3-style-up-for-sale-as-legal-fights-eats-into-profits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/1999\/12\/31\/e3-style-up-for-sale-as-legal-fights-eats-into-profits\/","title":{"rendered":"E3 Style Up For Sale As Legal Fights Eats Into Profits"},"content":{"rendered":"

E3 the Brisbane based distributor who is embroiled in several legal cases is up for sale.<\/p>\n

According to ChannelNews sources, several potential owners have been approached to invest in the business despite current management being reluctant to let third party accountants audit the books.<\/span><\/div>\n

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E3 Style, is part owned by Vannessa Garrard and her husband, while part of the business is owned by a third party via a blind trust. <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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Currently the Company that use to be a major supplier to Dick Smith and JB Hi Fi two retailers who no longer deal with e3 Style, is fighting legal cases on several fronts. <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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In the Supreme Court a multimillion dollar claim has been lodged against The Crest Company which is another Sydney based distributor where Garrard worked as a PA and later as an account manager. <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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Garrard is also facing legal action over a disputed $285,000 investment by South Australian distributor Powermove involving a shipment of goods to a mass retailer.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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E3, who has been forced to lodge substantial security with the Courts is believed to be facing a cash crunch after a major retailer stopped using the Company to supply house brand products.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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The CEO of the mass retailer told ChannelNews that E3 was “not their favourite supplier, at the moment”.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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The CEO of one organisation approached to invest in E3 said “when you have lost key retailers it becomes difficult to place a value on an organisation like E3. There are a lot of Companies in Australia who can source house brand products, the value is in retailer relationships and access to licensed products”. <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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Garrard has also discussed merging E3 with other major distributors. <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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The Crest Vs E3 Style case due to be heard this year, has it all, allegations of treachery, stolen Officeworks ideas, claims of breach of confidentiality as well as allegations that Harvey Norman was looking to buy into a house brand sourcing Company.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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Vannessa Garrard has not only taken legal action against arch rival Crest, it’s employees and principle director, she also claims that a former employee Michael Tomkins took confidential information relating to deals that E3 were doing with Officeworks when he quit to join Crest.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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Last year E3 Style who ChannelNews believes has been struggling to fund shipments without major deposits similar to the one that Powermove put up last year, sold 50% of her business to a major consumer electronics distributor who E3 CEO Vannessa Garrard now claims are trying to mount a “hostile takeover.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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Crawford Giles the CEO of Powermove said that at this stage he did not want to discuss the case as matters were before the Courts in Queensland. <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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<\/p>\n
Currently Garrard is claiming the E3 Style is the largest youth electronics supplier in Australia, with 1 in 2 people owning an E3 developed product.<\/div>\n
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They also claim that they are largest licensed electronics supplier in Australia and New Zealand. <\/div>\n
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E3 Style sells more cameras each year in Australia than any of the big global brands and has offices in Brisbane, China and Los Angeles to service clients around the globe.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Several distributors have questioned these claims along with the validity of awards that line the walls of E3 offices. <\/div>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

E3 Style, the Brisbane based distributor who is embroiled in several legal cases is up for sale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-archive","category-retail","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\nE3 Style Up For Sale As Legal Fights Eats Into Profits - Smart Office<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/1999\/12\/31\/e3-style-up-for-sale-as-legal-fights-eats-into-profits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"E3 Style Up For Sale As Legal Fights Eats Into Profits - 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