Disney on brink of stores sell-off

DISNEY is close to selling its UK and European chains of Disney Stores to management following a year-long sales process.

The management team is believed to be weeks away from signing a deal that will hand them 60 UK stores and 46 on the Continent.

A spokesman for Disney said that it was still exploring the options of selling the stores.

Several consortia have been linked with the business, including one fronted by Peter Morris, the former chief executive of Coffee Republic, and another by PY Gerbeau, the ex-Millennium Dome boss.

Morris had been rumoured to be prepared to pay up to £100m. However, the chain, with a flagship store on Regent Street in London's West End, is now thought to be worth closer to £30m.

Children's Place, a US retail business, bought Disney's 313-strong North American network at the end of October.

Though details of the deal were not disclosed, commentators believe the company effectively got the business for free in return for giving Disney an annual royalty payment.

The two deals mark the exit of Disney from retail after it failed in its ambition to become a mass-market player.