Dick Smith has been pilloried by the market, making it even more incredible that Anchorage Capital was able to float the company for $520 million just two years ago. When Woolworths sold consumer electronics group Dick Smith in 2012 to private equity for $94 million, it was accused of selling it for a "peppercorn" after its new owners packaged it up 15 months later and listed it on the ASX with a value of $520 million.