Conviviality plc has announced the sale of its retail business and assets to retailer and wholesaler Bestway Direct.
The deal, which is valued at £7.25 million, 'secures continued employment for circa 2,300 employees of the Conviviality Retail business and provides continuity of trade for suppliers and franchisees', Conviviality said in a statement.
It includes the fascias Bargain Booze, Select Convenience, Wine Rack and Central Convenience, which posted gross revenues of £378 million in the year to end April 2017, and adjusted EBITDA of £14.3 million.
Gross assets of the Conviviality Retail operations are valued at around £173 million, of which approximately £73 million relates to intangible costs.
Administrators
The sale was overseen by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which was appointed administrator to the Wine Rack Limited and Conviviality Retail Logistics Limited businesses, as well as the Bargain Booze Limited operation.
'The administrators have effected a sale of the trade and assets of the Conviviality Retail business undertaken by these companies,' Conviviality wrote in a statement.
'The sale has been agreed further to receipt of many expressions of interest in connection with an accelerated sale process coordinated by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP,' it continued.
'[The offer from Bestway] represents the best outcome for franchisees, suppliers, customers and employees of the Conviviality Retail business,' the group added.
Last week, C&C Group, which produces Magners cider and Tennent's lager, said that it was to acquire Matthew Clark and Bibendum, the wholesale arm of Conviviality.
The latest deal brings an element of closure to proceedings that arose following an 'arithmetic error' in its financial forecasts, leading to the departure of CEO Diana Hunter and administrators being appointed to the business.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
