Jones Bootmaker is set to be snapped up by Dutch group Macintosh Retail Group in a deal which is believed to value the footwear chain at £40m.
Macintosh plans to combine Jones Bootmaker with footwear chain Brantano which the group bought in 2008.
Brantano has 150 UK stores and Jones Bootmaker has 93 stores in the London area and south east of the country.
The deal could create a footwear chain targeting the upper and mid market with a market share of 4%, according to reports. Jones Bootmaker has annual sales of more than £95m and is profitable.
Jones Bootmaker chairman Peter Philliips and chief executive Ken Bartle are set to step down from their roles when the deal completes in April. Managing director Jeremy Todd and the rest of the senior management will remain with the business.
Phillips said: “The board of directors are delighted to have been acquired by a business with an established track record in the footwear sector. We are quite clear that both companies share a mutual vision of a combined group dedicated to the sale of quality footwear and the experience of superb customer service which has always been associated with this heritage brand.”
Macintosh Retail Group chief executive Frank De Moor said that the acquisition would make Jones Bootmaker’s “brand expertise” available in its other footwear formats.
Jones Bootmaker will open 15 further stores in the UK in the next three years and launch a new website, with a separate distribution centre.
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