Value retailer B&M has completed the sale of its German business Jawoll, five months after opening a strategic review into its performance.
B&M announced to the City this morning it had completed the sale of its 80% shareholding in Jawoll to a consortium led by AC Curtis Salta GmbH for €12.5m (£11m) in cash. Another of the consortium is an existing shareholder in the value retail business.
The value retailer said €2.5m of the transaction is payable on completion, with the further €10m payable on December 31, 2020 conditional to the ongoing trading of the business. The buying consortium have also agreed to repay Jawoll’s bank debt.
Jawoll currently trades from 89 stores in the North-West of Germany and reported losses for the financial year to March 31, 2019 of £15.4m.
B&M announced it was reviewing its German arm in November, after posting its own set of subdued results – profit before tax spiralled 70.5% to £32.2m.
Much of this loss was attributed to Jawoll, as UK sales were up 13.8%.
The retailer’s boss Simon Arora said at the time: “In Europe, we have seen contrasting performances from Babou in France and Jawoll in Germany. Babou has made good progress with the planned changes to its product offer.
“The performance of Jawoll has continued to be impacted by trading and operational issues and its financial performance remains disappointing. The board is carrying out a strategic review of Jawoll in order to determine its future.”
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