The discount chain B&M has struck a deal to buy 51 Wilko stores for up to £13m as the stricken retailer’s administrators rush to seal last-minute deals with the fate of thousands of jobs hanging in the balance.
B&M, one of the UK’s most successful discount retailers with a market value of £5bn and 1,100 outlets nationwide and in France, said it would acquire “up to 51” Wilko sites for a “maximum aggregate consideration” of £13m.
B&M is one of a number of suitors hoping to snap up parts of Wilko’s 400-store chain that fit their own expansion plans.
Administrators at PwC are also in talks with other potential suitors including Poundland, Home Bargains and The Range about saving some of Wilko’s stores.
The move by B&M comes as a deal tabled by the Canadian entrepreneur Doug Putman to save the majority of Wilko stores hangs in the balance.
The rescue deal proposed by Putman, who engineered a turnaround of HMV in the UK and owns Toys R Us in Canada, hopes to save as many as 300 of Wilko’s 400 stores, throwing a lifeline to its more than 12,000 staff.
However, hopes of an announcement on Monday were dashed when talks over the weekend ran into problems as some big suppliers, including Unilever and Procter & Gamble, which supply many staple household cleaning and food products, said they wanted their debts repaid now in order to continue to guarantee supplying Wilko’s stores.
The talks also raised concerns that some suppliers, which cancelled shipments to Wilko’s stores as the chain went into administration last month, would not be able to ship products for another six weeks.
Job cuts are already being made at the company’s headquarters and at its warehouses this week. On Monday, 269 people at Wilko’s Worksop support centre had their last day with the business.
On Tuesday, the GMB union said that it is still fighting to ensure a deal that protects jobs gets over the line.
“We are still doing everything we can secure a deal that would protect the majority of jobs and stores,” said Andy Prendergast, national secretary at GMB. “Every single redundancy is a person who will wake up facing an uncertain future. This needs to be on the forefront of everyone’s minds. The reality is years of mismanagement have led us here.”
As the administrator, PwC has an obligation to try to protect the interests of creditors including Hilco, which is owed £40m.
B&M said it would update on the newly acquired stores at its half-year results on 9 November. It said: “The consideration is fully funded from existing cash reserves and the acquisition is not expected to be conditional on any regulatory clearances.”
