Hills hoists itself free of Woolworths' Masters disaster

The demise of the Masters hardware chain has prompted Woolworths and Hills Ltd to scrap a deal where Woolworths took control in late 2014 of the manufacturing and selling of the well known Hills hoist clothesline and 240 other Hills products for up to 19 years.

The unwinding of the deal will result in Woolworths paying Hills at least $6 million as part of the confidential settlement that covers the royalties and licence fee income that was due to be paid to Hills for the next three years.