JD Sports makes £4m bid to buy shoe retailer Faith
Sportswear retailer JD Sports has submitted a £4m bid to buy
collapsed footwear chain, Faith, which would save the 1,700 jobs currently at risk.
Faith, which has 78 store chains and 120 concessions, appointed accountancy firm Mazars last week as administrator after realising a “solvent sale” of the business would not be possible.
Heath Sinclair, the joint administrator, has said that the deadline for offers to be made is 7 May and that Mazars had sent out 38 non-disclosure agreements, which has resulted in 12 information packs being issued.
A source close to the matter said that JD Sports were interested in buying the business to save jobs. “It is a fashion business that could be bought and built to save jobs. There is a strong management team at JD with experience in turning a company around,” the source said.
It is also believed that Debenhams, the department store chain which houses 110 Faith concessions, is considering acquiring the Faith brand and stock from the administrator Mazars. If a sale to Debenhams was agreed, it would be similar to its deal to acquire the brand and stock of Principles, the fashion chain that collapsed in 2009.
This week, Mazars has closed 11 Faith stores and 2 Chilli Pepper units, the fashion brand that was also under the FEC Holdings umbrella.
In 2008 the financial health of the company was called into question after previous owners, private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital, were forced into a fire-sale after failing to reach agreement with lender Barclays.
A management team led by former owner of Dolcis Shoes, John Kinnaird,
stepped in to rescue the firm. Kinnaird is believed to have had £1.5m
invested in the business, with Barclay’s £7m and Agilo’s £4.5m making up
the remainder. Bridgepoint bought the business in 2004 for £64 million
from Jonathan Faith, son of Samuel Faith, who founded the business in
1964.
Posted at 09:31PM May 04, 2010 by Kelly Board in Insolvency | Comments[0]
