A total of 24 parties have expressed interest in purchasing Wiggle Chain Reaction Cycles (WiggleCRC), with seven meeting formally with the company’s management.
The online retail giant entered administration at the end of October and has been looking for a buyer to take over the business.
The deadline for offers has now passed, according to a new report from the administrators, FRP Advisory, who are “optimistic” a transaction will be completed.
As part of the sale process, the administrators asked interested parties to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in order to access business data about WiggleCRC.
“During the process, 24 NDAs were signed, with 7 of those parties meeting with the management team on at least one occasion,” they wrote in a report dated 15 December.
“Interested parties were invited to submit funded offers no later than Monday 4 December 2023."
The administrators added that they are “optimistic that a transaction will be completed”, but the timescale of this will depend on the negotiations.
“Given the sale process is ongoing, it is not appropriate to provide further details at this stage and all creditors will be updated in our first progress report,” they wrote.
High street chain Halfords and retail group Frasers are among the companies reported to have been considering a bid for WiggleCRC.
Uptick in business
WiggleCRC's trading has been “very positive” since it entered administration on 24 October, the administrators wrote elsewhere in the report, with a “considerable profit achieved”.
In the period from 24 October to 12 December, the cycling retailer's income totalled almost £20million, helped in part by its Black Friday sales.
The administrators explained they made "opportunistic purchases" to grow the company’s stock and increase profits.
The overall picture, however, is less favourable for WiggleCRC.
Last year, the group recorded a loss before tax of £97million, citing a “challenging” economic situation in the UK following Brexit and the pandemic.
There have been two rounds of redundancies during the company's administration, with a total of 77 employees losing their jobs.
The administrators’ report also detailed debts of £26.7million owed to a large number of companies, including suppliers Madison, Saddleback and ZyroFisher.
Cycling Weekly contacted the administrators for further details on WiggleCRC's sale, but they chose not to comment.
