Bakery specialist Greggs is considering taking on 100 stores from Threshers owner First Quench, the off-licence group that collapsed into administration a fortnight ago.
Greggs chief executive Ken McMeikan told the Independent that a deal was on the cards as the baker expands.
McMeikan said: “Our property team is looking at the Thresher estate. We look at every chain that goes into administration. It would probably be in the region of less than 10% of the portfolio.”
Interested parties have until tomorrow to submit initial bids for First Quench to administrator KPMG. It is understood there have been many expressions of interest in parcels of stores and there are five main parties interested in a deal. They include trade buyers, distressed debt specialists and private equity houses.
Yesterday KPMG made another 35 redundancies at First Quench’s head office following 81 last month. Another 1,738 jobs have been lost in 373 stores which are being closed.
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