Australian company Hills has sold the right to make and sell Hills Hoist clotheslines after concluding it could not make money from the iconic product.
The ASX-listed company outsourced its gardening and laundry products business to Woolworths in 2014 under a licensing arrangement that saw Hills Hoists and other products sold through Woolworths' Masters stores but taken off shelves at rival Bunnings.
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The history of the Hills Hoist
Australia's iconic Hills Hoist, first made in 1946 by Lance Hill, wasn't the first rotary clothes line in existence.
That deal was upended last year when Woolworths decided to exit the home improvement market and close Masters stores. Woolworths paid Hills $6 million to dissolve the deal, prompting it to hunt for a new home.
On Tuesday, Hills revealed a deal to sell its gardening and laundry products business to fellow gardening product manufacturer AMES Australasia.
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Hills chief executive David Lenz said the company had "determined that it was not viable to resume the manufacture and sale of the ... products" itself after the Woolworths deal folded.
Mr Lenz said Hills needed to "remain focused on our core business activities" of security and surveillance, audiovisual, IT and health equipment.
AMES, which has established export markets, local infrastructure and supplies Bunnings, offered the best future for the Hills Home Living brands, Mr Lenz said.
The Hills Hoist, invented in Adelaide in 1945, can be raised and lowered to save space in suburban backyards and spins to take advantage of changing winds. The National Library of Australia lists it as a national treasure.
Hills did not disclose the sale price but said it would maximise value for its shareholders and improve earnings for the first half of the 2017 financial year.
Hills also revealed on Tuesday that health group Lincor Solutions had killed off a proposed merger with Hills' wholly owned Hills Health Solutions.
The demerger and initial public offering was deferred in November due to "market volatility". The two companies then considered other pre-IPO funding options but none were acceptable, Mr Lenz said in a statement.
He said Hills would look for other ways to grow its health business, which provides products and services to more than 350 healthcare facilities and 550 aged care facilities.
Hills shares were down 7.6 per cent to 42¢ at 1pm.