Co-op comes to the rescue of Alldays
store group Alldays have announced the sale of the group to the
Co-op for £131m.
Alldays, the debt-laden retailer which was being run by the official receivers, has been bought by the Co-operative Group for the sum of £131 million (€207.6m), making the Co-op the leading convenience store operator in Britain.
Alldays is one of the largest convenience store chains in the UK, operating 600 owned stores as well as 30 stores run by independent franchisees. Co-op said that despite Alldays' poor financial position, the acquisition represented "an attractive addition to our existing food retailing operations and will further strengthen our position in the convenience store sector".
Commenting on the acquisition, Martin Beaumont, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, said: "This deal establishes the Co-operative Group as the UK's leading convenience store operator. Following the successful integration of Co-operative Wholesale Society and Co-operative Retail Services, like-for-like sales in our Welcome convenience stores are running at 7 per cent up - well ahead of the market - while profitability in food retailing has more than doubled since the merger.
"The acquisition of Alldays will help us to build the momentum behind our highly successful convenience proposition."
Under the terms of the deal, the Co-op will assume responsibility for creditors and employees of Alldays and, in addition to the payments made to the receivers, will also make a payment to the shareholders of Alldays of 5 pence per share, which in aggregate will amount to approximately £2.2 million.
David Hargrave of PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the receivers appointed to run Alldays, said: "This is a great deal for the creditors of the group and the employees alike. I am delighted that through a sale to the Co-operative Group, we have been able to reach a conclusion which, in the circumstances, produced substantial value for all the creditors of the group including the secured lenders who fully supported the sale.
"Further, the sale also secured the employment of all 10,500 employees of the group who are joining a well known and respected name in the business."
