VITA’S FOCUS SWITCHES TO COSMETICS

QUEENSLAND rich lister Maxine Horne’s Vita Group will exit the iphone business and double down on cosmetics, after her company announced it had finalised terms of a $110m sale of its retail telco business to Telstra.

Vita shareholders will receive a special dividend of up to 45c per share as part of the deal, with the company passing on between $65m and $75m to shareholders, and it will hold on to about $35m to grow its Artisan Aesthetics Clinics business.

Telstra dropped a bombshell in February when it announced it would end Vita’s 26-year agreement to run the chain of retail shops.

Vita plans to run up to 90 Artisan outlets, many located in wealthy suburbs.