Glasgow entrepreneur Tarak Ramzan's Quiz clothing chain collapsed into administration yesterday but he and his family bought the vast bulk of it back immediately through the type of "pre-packaged" deal which has proved controversial with creditors of struggling retailers.

A press release issued last night on behalf of administrators Fraser Gray and Peter Saville, who work for corporate recovery specialist Zolfo Cooper, stated that the ladies' fashion retail business had been sold to KAST Retail and talked about staff transferring to the "new owners".

An examination by The Herald of documents lodged with Companies House shows that Tarak Ramzan is a director of KAST Retail. His son Sheraz, who has worked with him in Quiz for several years, is also a director of KAST.

Tarak Clothing Company, which has traded as Quiz, was the firm which called in the administrators.

It is not the first high-profile, Scottish-headquartered retail business to go through such a pre-pack administration as the high street climate has deteriorated.

Ayrshire retail and property entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter's USC clothing chain called in the administrators last December and Hunter moved immediately to buy back the vast bulk of this chain. He also repurchased the USC brand.

Quiz's collapse and rescue were announced simultaneously last night. The USC announcement last December came in similar fashion, although in that case the administrator came from accountancy firm PKF.

The administrators of Quiz chose to focus on the jobs "saved" in their announcement last night, and they claimed the arrangement struck with KAST Retail would "maximise" the return to creditors.

Forty-four of Quiz's 48 stores have been acquired by KAST. These 44 outlets employ 407 people.

However, the administrators also acknowledged that Quiz's store at Paisley in Renfrewshire, and three of its outlets in the north-west of England, at Stockport, Liverpool and Birkenhead, "are not included in the deal and will close".

In the press release, the administrators declared: "Over 400 jobs have been saved and a going concern sale achieved at fashion retailer Tarak Clothing Company Limited, trading as Quiz, following the company's decision to call in administrators.

"Joint administrators Fraser Gray and Peter Saville, of international recovery specialist Zolfo Cooper, appointed today, 20 March 2009, have announced that 44 stores, with a total of 407 employees, will transfer to the new owners."

They add: " The ladies' fashion retailer, which operates 48 stores has been acquired by KAST Retail Limited in a pre-packaged administration."

The first Quiz store was opened in 1994 and the fashion chain grew rapidly.

Of its 48 stores, 24 are in Scotland, 21 are in England, and three are in Northern Ireland.

Fraser Gray, partner and head of Zolfo Cooper in Scotland, said in the press release: "The company (Tarak Clothing) has been facing difficult trading conditions. We have recently worked with the directors to explore alternative strategies and the options available. However, due to the company's forecast trading position, it is clear it would not have been possible to trade during an administration. Faced with limited options, this sale will safeguard the future of the business and its staff and maximise the return to creditors."

A Zolfo Cooper spokesman said Fraser Gray was unavailable for further comment.

The spokesman was un-able to provide a figure when asked how much the creditors of Tarak Clothing Company were owed. He was also unable to provide the number of employees who worked at the four Quiz stores which have been closed.

Tarak Ramzan was handed the keys to the family business at the age of 18. He transformed a modest factory which used to make duffel coats into a nationwide retail chain, elevating himself into the ranks of Scotland's richest Asian entrepreneurs.

He built the manufacturing business to employ about 200 staff at its peak, selling clothes to high street staples including the Co-op, Morrisons and Burton.

However, he recognised that the fast-retrenching UK clothing manufacturing sector faced a bleak future.

In 1994, Ramzan opened his first Quiz store in Glasgow, selling young women's fashions manufactured at his own factory at the city's Hydepark Street and sourced from other suppliers. As the retail chain grew, the manufacturing operation shrank in size.