By Laura McGuire
Bidders for troubled retailer Wilko have reportedly been given until Wednesday to place offers for the company after collapsing into administration last week.
A number of discount retailers and financial investors are considering offers for the company, and administrator PwC is seeking offers by the middle of the week, Sky News reported.
Last week, the high street retailer was forced to call in the ‘Big Four’ firm after a number of talks to potentially save the business failed to reach a deal.
Speaking at the time, chief of Wilko, Mark Jackson, said the company had been left with “no choice”.
He said: “While we can confirm we had a significant level of interest, including indicative offers that we believe would meet all our financial criteria to recapitalise the business, without the surety of being able to complete the deal within the necessary time frame and given the cash position, we’ve been left with no choice but to take this unfortunate action.”
Wilko had spent the summer hunting for a rescue deal and tapped Hilco for £45m over the past year to keep it afloat.
Before entering administration, reports emerged that Laura Ashley owner Gordon Brothers had entered into talks with Wilko’s advisors about a possible deal.
Wilko, like many other high street stores, has struggled in recent years due to a rise in online shopping along with a recent slowdown in consumer spending.
In January, Paperchase was wiped off the high street after being hammered hard during the pandemic. Its intellectual property was bought by Tesco and all stores were shut.
City A.M. has contacted Wilko for a comment.
