Debenhams has urged prospective bidders to formalise their offers today in a bid to secure the ailing department store’s future.
Investment bank Lazard, which is running the auction process for the struggling retailer, has reportedly asked interested parties to submit their bids for the business by 5pm today.
The move comes as Debenhams administrator FRP Advisory seeks to conclude a prospective sale process by the end of this month.
If a buyer is not secured alternatives that could entail thousands more job losses are likely to be explored.
The department store retailer has been in a ‘light touch administration’ since April, which has seen more than 120 of its stores continue to operate while a buyer for the business has been sought.
According to information circulated among potential buyers and seen by Sky News, Debenhams has outlined an “illustrative scenario” that would see half of its store estate liquidated, leaving it with 60 stores and a roadmap to potential profit of £90m in the year to February 2022.
Debenhams has 12,000 employees but axed 2,500 jobs last month, as revealed by Retail Week as part of a fresh cost-cutting drive.
The department store retailer has also appealed to a tribunal against the 12% hike in its business rates bill to £1.1m on one of its stores in Swansea, Wales, and said it was “kicking off a nationwide fight in local tribunals for its business rates liability to be rebased to reflect reality”.
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