A MALVERN shoe shop will remain open after the chain which runs it was taken over by another investor, protecting thousands of jobs across the country.
Brantano (UK) Limited, which has a store in the Three Counties Retail Park in Roman Way, Malvern, has been partially bought out by Alteri Investors.
Malvern is one of the stores that will form part of the deal with Alteri, preserving1,372 jobs nationwide, including 15 at the Malvern store.
Tony Barrell, Mike Jervis and Rob Hunt of PwC were appointed joint administrators of Brantano (UK) Limited on January 21.
While the future is more secure for the 81 stores and 59 concessions which form part of the deal (including Malvern), the future is less clear for the 57 stores and one concession which are not included.
Following their appointment, the administrators have continued to trade the business whilst undertaking a sales process amongst interested parties.
Having now completed this process, the majority of the business has been sold to a company controlled by Alteri Investors, preserving 1,372 jobs and 140 stores and concessions.
58 stores and concessions have not been included in the Alteri acquisition and the administrators continue to trade these stores whilst dialogue continues with interested parties.
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 1,372 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.”
Tony Barrell, lead administrator said: "We continue to trade the remaining Brantano business whilst discussions with interested parties continue.
"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 Investors (“Alteri”) describes itself as a specialist European retail investor.
It acquired the activities of Macintosh Fashion UK (Brantano and Jones Bootmaker) from Macintosh Retail Group with effect from October 27 last year.
Macintosh Fashion UK is described as a leading footwear company with comprehensive coverage of the UK footwear market through its formats Brantano and Jones Bootmaker.
