Founder of Godfreys will take over at the age of 99

GODFREYS founder John Johnston will be gifted with the takeover of the vacuum cleaner retailer ahead of his 100th birthday, after securing a more than 91 per cent stake in the group.

Mr Johnston, who turns 100 in July, first proposed buying back the company in April through his family- owned Arcade Finance.

He aims to take the business off the ASX and set about rebuilding its failing fortunes.

He first launched Godfreys with Godfrey Cohen more than eight decades ago, before it was snapped up by private equity investors CCMP Capital Asia and Pacific Equity Partners ( PEP) for about $ 300 million in 2006.

In May, the 99- year- old won over two major shareholders who agreed to sell their stakes to him after he increased his bid for the struggling company to $ 13.7 million, from $ 13.1 million.

Arcade Finance has now secured 91.21 per cent of the company’s shares and will proceed with the compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares.

Since listing in 2014 with an issue price of $ 2.75, Godfreys has been plagued by falling sales, multiple changes of senior management, and a sustained slide in share price to an all- time low of 21c in April.

In May, Godfreys cut its full- year earnings guidance for the second time in two weeks.

The retailer warned it is likely to breach loan covenants after like- for- like sales for the past two weeks were 27 per cent lower than the same time last year.

John Hardy, the man who featured in vacuum cleaner retailer Godfreys’ famous bowling ball TV ads, will return as chief executive of the company for a third time.