Management’s selective buy-out

A management buy-out has saved 125 outlets of a high street women’s clothing retailer from closure.


A management buy-out has saved 125 outlets of a high street women’s clothing retailer from closure.

A management buy-out has saved 125 outlets of a high street women’s clothing retailer from closure.

Select Retail, which sells budget clothing to teenagers and women up to the age of 50, has been bought by a team of its directors for an undisclosed sum.

The deal has saved 1,000 jobs, but 800 more are in the balance as the company’s administrator, UHY Hacker Young, attempts to find a buyer for the remaining 125 stores.

Select was put into administration at the end of last week when its banker, HBOS, decided not to renew its overdraft.

The remaining retail units will continue to trade until a buyer is found and, according to UHY’s website, several parties have expressed an interest in these stores.

Last month Turkish investor Cafer Mahiroglu spent £13 million buying a 70 per cent stake in the company. Following the deal, Select’s founder and managing director, Nigel Fisher reduced his stake to 30 per cent from 65 per cent with directors John Sutherland and Stephen Sugarman exiting the business.

Fisher resigned before the company was put into administration, leaving the remaining directors to buy 125 of its stores.

The Watford-based company, which has outlets primarily in smaller towns and cities, is not the only retailer to have suffered in recent months with shoe companies Dolcis and Stead & Simpson also reporting problems.

Marc Barber

Marc Barber

Marc was editor of GrowthBusiness from 2006 to 2010. He specialised in writing about entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital, mid-market M&A, small caps and high-growth businesses.

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