Close Brothers arm renamed May 10, 2010 CLOSE Brothers Corporate Finance has been renamed as DC Advisory Partners after being taken over by Japan’s Daiwa in July last year. The firm, which has over 200 staff, plans to open more offices in Europe this year as part of a growth drive in M&A, distressed investment, restructuring and debt advisory services. DC Advisory [...]
Poundland bought for £200m May 5, 2010 Discount retailer Poundland has been sold to US private equity firm Warburg Pincus. The chain, based in Willenhall in the West Midlands, and Europe’s largest single priced discount retailer is expected to make sales of £700m by 2011. The company, founded in 1990, has 260 outlets across the UK. Its current owner, the rival buyout [...]
Warburg Pincus buys Poundland May 3, 2010 US-based private equity group Warburg Pincus is today set to announce the buyout of the discount retailer Poundland. Pound shops such as Poundland, which sells all products for £1, have been a winner with UK consumers counting pennies during the recession.
Boss eats his words as DFS agrees a sale April 22, 2010 LORD Kirkham, the founder of the DFS sofa chain, is set for a big payday after agreeing a deal to sell the retailer to private equity firm Advent International for an estimated £500m. The move is a stark U-turn for Kirkham, who only last month said he was “categorically not interested in selling the business” [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF March 11, 2010 Advent International, the private equity owner of Poundland, the discount retailer that sells all products for £1 or less, has hired advisers to prepare for a possible sale. Pound stores have done well during the recession, attracting cash-strapped shoppers. Advent bought Poundland for about £50m in 2002. Close Brothers is advising Poundland on its strategic [...]
Co-op’s Christmas price war fuels sales January 11, 2010 THE Co-operative Group’s like-for-like sales rose almost five per cent after slashing prices in a battle with its rivals over Christmas. The UK’s fifth biggest food retailer – which now has 3,000 stores after buying Somerfield last year – was boosted by a massive advertising campaign and overhaul of brands. Like-for-like sales – including VAT [...]
Co-op sales surge after price war January 10, 2010 THE Co-operative Group’s like-for-like sales rose almost 5 per cent after slashing prices in a battle with its rivals over Christmas. The UK’s fifth biggest food retailer – which now has 3,000 stores after buying Somerfield last year – was boosted by a massive advertising campaign and overhaul of brands. Like-for-like sales – including VAT [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 10, 2010 THE SUNDAY The Sunday Telegraph GOOGLE BOSS WARNS UK OVER DEBT MOUNTAIN The chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, has given warning to the UK and other western governments that reducing their massive deficits will be far harder than in America because of the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency. PET CHAIN SUITORS GIVEN [...]
Pound stores pull posh punters September 3, 2009 The number of pound stores has risen by 60 per cent in the last two years as posh shoppers have developed an eye for a bargain in the downturn. According to new research by the Local Data Company, just under half of the 1,423 discount stores are in London and the South East and, for [...]
Poundland profits up on slump June 1, 2009 EUROPE’S largest single price discounter, Poundland, will today prove that it is continuing to buck the retail gloom and report a 47 per cent jump in annual operating profit. The group said for the year to 29 March operating profit rose to £11.8m from £8m the year before. And earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and [...]