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Oddbins to be sold within seven days

Published:  09 April, 2011

Oddbins' administrators Deloitte are hopeful that the off-licence chain will be sold within seven days, as more speculation about bidders emerges.


It seems likely that, as happened First Quench, which collapsed in 2009, the 89-strong chain will be split up. What is not yet clear is whether new owners would continue to operate under the Oddbins fascia.


A former insider told Harpers Wine & Spirit there are a total of "seven bids on the table for varying numbers of stores".

 

Administrator Lee Manning told Harpers: "We are hopeful of a sale within seven days being completed. Meanwhile we are trading as normal and have not closed any stores."

 


Another well-placed source told Harpers that aside from Simon Baile and partner Henry Young's bid to take on 40 or 50 stores in the London area; Laki Christoforou, who owns wholesaler Venus as well as around 20 Wine Rack stores, will also bid. A "secret consortium" made up of former senior Oddbins staff is said to be third group to have put in an offer for the capital's sites.

 

BrandInvestGroup, which runs around 20 stores in Scotland under the Winehouse and Cellar No1 brands is said to have tabled an offer for some of the Scottish shops - there are 23. The group was established in 2009 by former investment banker George MacRitchie and Philip Craig, former head of Jim Beam Brands in Europe. In September last year the pair said they hoped to expand their estate to around 50 sites within two years. The company capitalised on the collapse of First Quench to buy its current sites.

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