Hopes for La Senza sale fade in wake of second collapse in two years

There is little hope that collapsed lingerie business La Senza UK will find a buyer as retailers including Theo Paphitis vie to cherry-pick its best stores.

A source close to the situation said it would be “wildly hopeful” to think that the 55-store business would be sold in its entirety.

Alshaya UK, which bought the La Senza UK business in a pre-pack deal in 2012, plunged the retailer into administration on Tuesday, as revealed by Retail-week.com. It was the second collapse in two years.

It is understood that Alshaya UK had attempted to find a buyer for La Senza to no avail earlier this year.

However, there is likely to be a race to pick up some of La Senza’s best stores such as its Westfield Stratford and Trafford Centre branches.

Paphitis, a former owner of La Senza who sold it to Lion Capital in 2006 for £100m hopes to snap up stores for his lingerie brand Boux Avenue.

He said: “If I can do something to protect the workers’ future I will.”

PwC was appointed as administrator of La Senza. The retailer employs 752 people.

A source close to the situation said it would be “wildly hopeful” to think that the 55-store business would be sold in its entirety.