Discount retailer The Original Factory Shop is seeking an advisor as it prepares for a future sale and could be valued for as much as £100m, it is understood.

Duke Street Capital, the private equity firm which has owned the 180-store retailer for almost six years, has begun scouting for an adviser to manage a sale process.

According to sources close to Duke Street, it does not plan to sell the retailer this year but it is in talks to appoint an adviser to oversee an auction of the chain, said Sky News.

A spokeswoman for The Original Factory Shop said: “We are looking for an adviser but no timetable for a sale has been put in place.”

Duke Street, which bought the company from Barclays for £68.5m in 2007, declined to comment.

Topics