BONMARCHE, the fashion chain which was part of collapsed retailer Peacocks Group, has been sold in a deal that will lead to 1,400 job losses and 160 store closures.
Private equity firm Sun European Partners, which also owns the Alexon and Jacques Vert brands, has bought the women’s clothing retailer out of administration in a so-called pre-pack deal for an undisclosed sum.
Sun, which bought the entire chain apart from three stores, has said it will continue to run 230 stores but will close about 160.
The store closures mean it will continue to employ about 2,400 of the chain’s 3,800 strong workforce.
The staff in stores set for the axe were told yesterday and the outlets are expected to shut in the near future. The company said it was too early to release a list of sites to be closed.
Bonmarche, founded in 1982, was part of the Peacocks Group, which last week collapsed into administration under its £750m debt mountain in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths, placing 9,600 jobs in jeopardy.
But whereas administrators at KPMG were called in to take charge of the Peacocks chain, Bonmarche was kept out of administration to allow sale talks to continue.
Pre-pack deals, where a chain is placed into administration and immediately bought in a previously-arranged deal, are controversial because they allow the new buyers to take on the chain but write off many of its debts.
