Nightclub owner Deltic puts itself up for sale as cash dries up
The UK’s largest nightclub owner Deltic Group has put itself up for sale after months of closure due to the Covid-19 crisis has driven it to the brink of collapse.
Deltic, which owns brands including Pryzm and Atik, has begun a sale process while it considers other options, including a company voluntary arrangement, in a bid to survive.
Earlier this month it emerged the group had tapped accountancy firm BDO to explore potential options as the pandemic drained its cash reserves.
Chief executive Peter Marks today urged the government to do more to support the UK’s nightclub sector, which has been forced to remain shuttered since March.
“We have to look at every option going and part of that is to see what other capital is out there to get the business through this,” he told the Financial Times.
Deltic has already cut 1,000 staff — roughly half its workforce — though Marks said the recent extension to the government’s job support scheme had prevented further job losses.
He added that the company had reopened around a tenth of its floorspace to operate as bars, but this was only bringing in £80,000 per month. The company is currently burning through £1m per month.
More than 10 potential buyers, the majority of whom are private equity firms, are said to have expressed interest in Deltic, which owns 52 venues across the UK.
The UK’s nightclub sector is among the hardest hit by the pandemic, and further lockdown measures mean the prospect of reopening remains out of sight.
A survey carried out earlier this month by the Save Nightclubs campaign warned that more than half of UK clubs would go out of business by the end of the month, while four in five are likely to shut by Christmas unless the government provided additional support.