Poundland owner receives interest from potential buyers
Pepco Group boss Stephen Borchert said that Poundland had already attracted interest from potential buyers.
Pepco Group boss Stephen Borchert said Poundland had already attracted interest from potential buyers amid news of them “actively exploring” a sale.
The chief executive told Reuters that there are “definitely interested parties for this business” after the group confirmed it had put the discount chain up for sale.
The group told shareholders on Thursday that it was “actively evaluating” all strategic options to separate the retailer from the group as it moves towards a simpler business model focused on its higher-margin Pepco brand.
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Borchert declined to comment on the type of interest, what stage talks had reached, or what Poundland was worth.
However, he said he was confident its future would be decided by September this year.
Pepco had been working with advisors at AlixPartners at the start of the year on a “comprehensive assessment” of the retailer after its underwhelming results contributed to a £650m writedown on the group’s balance sheet and a £560m net loss.
The group said on Thursday (6 March) that Poundland had continued to experience a negative like-for-like sales performance for the first two months of the year, with an “underperformance of all categories”.
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