Rescue deal nears for Bonmarché

More than 150 shops of Bonmarché, the plus-size womenswear retailer, are expected to close as part of a rescue deal to be completed later this week.

But the fate of its stablemate, clothing chain Peacocks, hangs in the balance, as the fashion group's syndicate of 17 banks held a conference call this morning.

The banks were assessing a separate £60 million rescue deal put together by chief executive Richard Kirk and a mystery backer to salvage Peacocks and its 611 shops.

Both Peacocks, chaired by Allan Leighton, and Bonmarché, which has 394 shops, filed notices of intention to appoint accountancy firm KPMG as administrator on Monday.

This gave both retailers, which together have debts of £240 million, 10 working days to safeguard their future and 11,000 staff. If the banks reject the rescue deal, it's possible that Peacocks could fall into administration later today.

But private equity firm Sun European Partners is poised to acquire Bonmarché, which employs 2000 people, as early as Friday, possibly in a pre-packaged administration. Sun European has teamed up with retail restructuring specialist GA Europe for the deal, which is likely to see the former acquire about 230 Bonmarché shops.

It is thought that GA Europe could handle the sale or closure of the remaining Bonmarché stores.
All parties declined to comment.