Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Kiddicare, Dixons, Carphone Warehouse and Sports Direct

Morrisons narrows down two bidders for potential sale of Kiddicare

Morrison is close to clinching on the cut-price sale its baby goods retailer Kiddicare with two parties, Endless and Better Capital, still in the race to buy the business.

Better Capital and Endless were due to table final bids for Kiddicare with a winning bidder due to be selected as soon as this week. City sources say that Morrisons is expected to have to pay a substantial dowry to the successful bidder. The sale may include all 10 of the outlets operating under the Kiddicare name, or could involve the closure of some of the sites prior to a deal being completed, insiders said.

Carphone and Dixons’ advisers to gain as much as £22.6m in fees

Advisers for Carphone Warehouse and Dixons’ £3.7bn merger are set to make as much as £22.6m in fees, the Telegraph reported. Carphone Warehouse hired advisers at Deutsche Bank and UBS alongside lawyers at Osborne Clarke, while Citigroup and Barclays offered financial advice to Dixons with Linklaters providing legal advice to the company. The investment banks will secure the lions’ share of the two companies’ advisory fees according to the companies’ merger prospectus.

The circular to investors reveals that Carphone will be paying between £3.7m and £10.9m to their advisors, while Dixons will pay as much as £11.7m for advisory work. The company’s PR firm Brunswick will receive £3m for their work, while their public relations counterparts Citigate Dewe Rogerson will receive a smaller sum of £1m for their Carphone role.

Adidas boss Herbert Hainer says keen to work with Sports Direct

Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer said that the German sportswear maker is still keen to work with retailer Sports Direct. Hainer told the Sunday Telegraph: “Our main objective is definitely to improve the situation with the retail partners. I don’t know exactly how many stores SDI [Sports Direct International] has in England, but it is definitely a lot. I want to see our brand get good presentation in all these stores, the same with JD and you name them.”

A war of words broke out between the two companies last year after Adidas said it would pull its best-selling replica shirts – including those for the Chelsea, Spain and Argentina teams – from Sports Direct because of concerns about the presentation of the retailer’s stores.

Meanwhile, Sports Direct is set to face another defeat at the hands of investors this week as it tries to push through a £200m bonus scheme for staff and its billionaire founder, Mike Ashley. Sports Direct also issued a denial that it was gearing up for an offer for Office, quashing trade speculation.

Sales from supermarkets and hypermarkets to dip by 4% in next five years

According to IGD data, sales from supermarkets and hypermarkets will tumble by 4% over the next five years despite a 16% increase in overall grocery sales. For the first time, sales from convenience stores, discounters and the internet will overtake supermarkets and hypermarkets by April 2019.

Sales from discount chains like Aldi and Lidl are forecast to double over the five years – giving them a 10.5% share of the grocery market – while online sales will grow 119%. Convenience stores such as Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local will rise by a third, according to IGD.

Blackcircles opens first PitStop fitting service in Scotland

Online tyre retailer Blackcircles’ first PitStop fitting service has been opened in Scotland, Herald Scotland reported. The store will be located at the Tesco Extra store at the Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow.