Sports Direct acquires Jack Wills out of administration
Sports Direct has acquired Jack Wills out of administration in a £12.75 million deal.
A distribution centre and all 100 Jack Wills stores in the UK and Ireland will transfer to Sports Direct together with the brand’s 1,700 employees.
The new owners are understood be assessing options for the brand’s international business. Jack Wills operates stores in Hong Kong, Singapore and USA and has six franchised stores in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the Channel Islands.
Will Wright and Chris Pole from KPMG’s restructuring practice were appointed joint administrators to Jack Wills and Union Lifestyle today. Immediately following their appointment, the brand and UK trading assets of the businesses weresold to Sports Direct.
Suzanne Harlow, chief executive of Jack Wills, said: “For the past year, we have been focused on improving the Jack Wills proposition and the group’s financial performance. Despite significant progress, the challenging trading environment led us to conclude that the company’s long-term future would be best served as part of a larger group and Sports Direct will enable us to do this.”
Wright added: “Jack Wills has a strong brand and proud British heritage, so it is pleasing to have been able to secure this agreement with Sports Direct.”
Photo by Georgia Hawkins
