Matalan eyes up sale as it grapples with inflationary pressure
Matalan’s founders are eyeing up a sale, as the fashion firm struggles to fight off inflationary pressure.
As first reported by the Sunday Times, the retailer’s chairman John Hargreaves is understood to be working with advisors at Lazard on a potential deal.
This deal could mean a suitor snapping up the whole of the Matalan business or bringing in an investor to pump in fresh equity.
Sky News reported last month that Hargreaves had proposed pumping tens of millions of pounds into the clothing firm as a leadership tussle takes hold of the firm.
It was reported that Hargreaves was hoping to retain outright control of the company, with reports suggesting pushback on this from senior creditors. The company is approaching a January deadline for refinancing £350m in debt, with an additional £130m instrument is scheduled for repayment the year after.
The Liverpool-based retailer employs 11,000 people across 230 UK stores, and posted sales growth of 38 per cent to £1.03 billion last year.
