Zelows had grown into a substantial retail group in its own right. The time had come for the Zelows brothers to retire. Divest Merge Acquire was approached via Zelows’ accountants, Marsh and Partners, to lead the divestment process. Substantial interest was attracted, with the standout player being Strandbags, itself with more than 300 stores including many in overlapping locations. The fit was ideal and the parties worked together well. A standout event was the stocktake of 46 stores on the afternoon before completion, conducted jointly by Zelows and Strandbags managers, using scanners, with the data uploaded to Strandbags’ computer system and priced all within 3 hours, remembering it wasn’t even their business! This was an astounding achievement and sets the benchmark for efficiency and cooperation.