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Bid for full Oddbins estate falls through

Published:  21 April, 2011

At least three parties remain in the running to buy Oddbins stores, but former owner Simon Baile's bid for the whole estate has fallen through.

At least three parties remain in the running to buy Oddbins stores, but former owner Simon Baile's bid for the whole estate has fallen through.

Alex Brick, chief executive of Gordon Brothers Europe, one of Baile's private equity backers, told Harpers that Baile was now negotiating with administrators to buy a smaller number of stores.


Administrators at Deloitte had hoped deals would have been signed already, but the process has been delayed because the estate is being broken up rather than sold in its entirety. A Deloitte spokesman said: "The administrators continue to trade the business while seeking to achieve a going concern sale."


But Brick told Harpers: "We're fully supportive of what Simon's trying to do. We've been expecting to hear from administrators every day. The longer it goes on, the less chance there is of doing any deal."


The 21-strong Scottish off-licence chain BrandInvestGroup is in the frame to acquire some of Oddbins' 19 stores north of the border. It opened its first store in June 2010, following the First Quench administration.


Philip Craig, joint founder of BIG and former head of Jim Beam Brands in Europe, visited a number of the shops over the weekend, and said they appeared to be trading well. "On the surface the stock seemed tight, but it's business as usual and that's very positive."


A former insider told Harpers that Amathus Wines - a London-based specialist drinks importer, distributor and brand management company - and Wine Rack, run by Laki Christoforou, have bid for a number of stores in the capital. Neither were available for comment at the time of going to press.


Another source said an additional seven stores were informed they would close last Monday, while at least four members of head office staff were made redundant on the same day.


Meanwhile, a tranche of 55 closed Oddbins stores have been put up for sale through Christie & Co - the chain closed 39 stores last month but the other 16 were closed before the restructuring began.

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