Green moves in on Allders' Home stores

BHS billionaire Philip Green is moving into the booming homewares market via the acquisition of eight of the Allders Home stores from administrator Kroll.

Although Bhs has large homeware departments, stand-alone home stores are a departure for the Monaco-based billionaire. 'It's something new to give us a challenge,' Green said today.

'We did think about buying Marks & Spencer's Lifestore, but we decided against it,' he joked.

As well as the eight Home stores, Bhs is buying two Allders department stores, in Chester and Leeds.

No price was disclosed for the deal, which is part of a carve-up of the collapsed Allders department stores group that will see rival Debenhams take over eight stores and Associated British Foods buy up six for its fast-expanding Primark discount fashion chain.

ABF said the total cost of its investment in the stores, including fitting out, could be £110 million. The deal includes the valuable freehold site in Bromley, Kent, and a long-leasehold store in Coventry.

ABF finance director John Bason, said: 'The acquisition of these six stores in major towns and cities represents another step in Primark's acquisition of retail space in Great Britain and will bring the Primark offering to a large number of new customers.' Primark, which has 121 stores, has been one of the fastest-growing retail chains on the High Street in recent years. The new stores will add about 300,000 square feet of space to its 2.4m square feet in Britain. Today's sale of 24 stores will secure the future of more than 2000 Allders employees.

Joint administrators Andrew Pepper and Alastair Beveridge said they continue to review options for the remaining 21 Allders sites. 'We are very pleased that the business has held together so well during the few weeks of the administration and we have experienced good trading throughout the stores,' they said.