B&M agrees to buy 51 Wilko stores from UK retailer’s administrators

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Discount retailer B&M has agreed to buy 51 of rival Wilko’s 400 stores from managers for £13m as the fate of the rest of the UK high street chain remains uncertain.

The news comes as PwC and other firms are in talks to save parts of Wilko’s business, which went into receivership last month, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

After discussions with Wilko’s suppliers, HMV owner Doug Putman is considering acquiring about 200 stores, down from the 300 he originally planned to acquire, according to two people familiar with the matter. A representative for Putman declined to comment.

B&M said it would provide more details on its plans when it releases interim results in November, but added that it would not retain the Wilko brand. It was not immediately clear whether employees at the acquired stores would stay on.

Nearly 300 Wilko employees have already been made redundant, and PwC has warned more will be announced this week.

B&M founder and former chief executive Simon Arora wrote to one of Wilko’s bidders (who later dropped out) last week, saying he was “surprised” that they were bidding for the entire chain. “Other discounters such as B&M have shown a lot of interest in Wilko’s stores,” with B&M targeting “premium stores,” he said.

Administrators are expected to share an update on the chain’s fate later Tuesday.

The administration process is now in its fourth week, and last week M2 Capital (the last-minute bidder for the entire chain) was unable to provide substantial evidence that it could afford it, delaying negotiations with other bidders, resulting in the administration process Into chaos.

It was one of the UK’s biggest retail losses in recent years, following the collapse of Sir Philip Green’s retail empire and department store chain Debenhams and the corner store chain McColl’s, recently bought by Morrisons.

Like many high street chains, Wilko has been hit by inflationary pressures and supply chain issues amid a cash crunch.

In January it borrowed £40m from Hilco, a special situation investor which is advising PwC separately and could liquidate some assets, including shares, if it doesn’t find a bidder.