Millers and Katies owner Specialty Fashion Group strikes deal to buy Rivers Australia for just $5m THE company behind the Millers and Katies fashion chains has bought discount clothes retailer Rivers for just $5 million. Specialty Fashion Group announced the deal this morning, saying it planned to expand Rivers' chain of 160 stores to 220. Shares in the group surged almost 15 per cent in early trade to 90.5c. Specialty chief Gary Perlstein said the group would invest $4 million a year by in Rivers by the 2015 financial year. Rivers is not expected to make a contribution to Specialty Fashion'earnings until that time. ``For Specialty Fashion Group, the transaction makes business sense as it is a highly complementary acquisition," Mr Perlstein said in a statement. ``The iconic Rivers brand resonates strongly with the group's existing customer base. ``There is an operational improvement opportunity in the short term, and we expect to grow the brand, with material benefits from the acquisition to flow through from financial year 2015. Rivers, a private company, has a customer database of seven million. Its revenue for the year to next June is expected to clock in at $180 million.