XXX on January 5, 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand. Dick Smith was taken public by buyout firm Anchorage Capital Partners two years ago. Stock last traded at 35.5 Australian cents on the ASX, after dropping 84 per cent from the A$2.20-a-share Anchorage set for its initial public offering two years ago. The electrical retail chain was founded by the entrepreneur Dick Smith in the 1960s.