AUSTRALIAN appliance maker Email is boosting its assault on the New Zealand market by buying 50 per cent of Amalgamated Finance, New Zealand's second-largest lender in household appliance financing.
No price was disclosed for the stake, which was bought from Philips New Zealand.
The other 50 per cent of Amalgamated Finance is held by UDC Finance, a subsidiary of the Australia & New Zealand Bank.
The stake was purchased through Email's New Zealand subsidiary, Simpson Appliances (NZ).
Email said the purchase was part of its ''ongoing quest to wrest market share'' from its major New Zealand competitor, Fisher & Paykel Industries.
Email group chief executive Don McNeill said the move was aimed at independent retailers who did not wish to be bound to Fisher & Paykel, which ties chains and single outlets to exclusive franchise agreements.
Earlier this year, Email signed an agreement with New Zealand's Bond chain to sell appliances under the Atlas, Simpson and Westinghouse brands in four outlets in Christchurch.