NEARLY 130 Scots jobs remain at risk at branches of troubled shoe retailer Brantano despite a deal to sell most of the business.
It has been confirmed that the Alteri Investors, the private equity firm that put the discount shoe chain into administration has bought it back.
Administrators have confirmed 140 of Brantano's 198 stores and concessions has been sold to Alteri Investors, preserving 1,372 jobs.
But in Scotland 13 of Brantano's 20 stores were not included in the sale.
It means that 129 jobs in those stores remain at risk. The shops affected are Coatbridge, Aberdeen, Clydebank, Ayr, Wishaw, Dumfries, Irvine, Glasgow (Partick), Glentrothes, Edinburgh (Straiton), Lanark, Linlithgow and Kilmarnock.
There will be 68 jobs potentially saved by the transfer of the seven Scots stores to Alteri in Perth, Inverness, Glasgow (Pollokshaws), Dundee, Inverurie, Elgin and Linwood.
Robert Moran, deals partner at PwC, who led the sales process, said: “From discussions held over the last few weeks, there was interest from a number of parties, both trade and private equity, for the Brantano business.
"Of this interest, the offer from Alteri represents the best outcome for creditors and employees. We are delighted that 1,339 jobs have been preserved through the transaction and thank the Brantano team for working closely and collaboratively with us throughout what has been a difficult period for the business.”
The Leicestershire-based business, went into administration over three weeks ago and at the time the administrators said that Brantano had been “hit hard by the change in consumers’ shopping habits and the evolution of the UK retail environment.”
It is now expected to continue to trade while further discussions with interested parties continue.
Tony Barrell, lead administrator said: "Unfortunately, in the event further sales are not possible, redundancies will become inevitable. We are working closely with Brantano employees and offering every support possible through this difficult period.”
Alteri paid £12m for the business in October along with better-known chain Jones Bootmaker. However, Jones, which first opened in 1857, was unaffected by Brantano’s troubles.
Gavin George, chief executive of Alteri, defended the deal and insisted he had “wanted to find a solvent solution”.
Mr George said that Alteri had tried to strike an agreement with Brantano’s landlords about reducing its rent bill before calling in administrators and also played down the threat of suppliers missing out on millions of pounds of overdue payments.
“It is unlikely that many are going to lose out,” he said. “We tried really, really hard to undertake the restructuring solvently, but we were unable to do so. This is the only way we could restructure the business to give it a good go-forward position.”
Mr George said there is still a place for a “family footwear out-of-town specialist” in the retail industry.
Property agents at GCW have been instructed to find a buyer for the remaining stores considered to be the worst performing stores. It is understood GCW is keen to find a buyer before the next quarterly rent payment falls due in April.
Brantano was founded in Belgium in 1953 and expanded into the UK by buying 47 Shoe City shops in 1998. Its shops are mainly located in out-of-town retail parks.
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