Hilco agrees to take on £35m more of Woolworths debt
Hilco has agreed to take on £35m more of Woolworths' debt keeping crisis talks alive
Hilco is holding
Woolworths‘
fate in its hands by agreeing to sweeten the terms of its £1 offer for the
company’s retail division.
The distressed-business specialist offered to assume an additional £35m of
the group’s debt at the weekend in an attempt to gain control of the 99-year-old
retailer’s 840 high street stores, The Times reports.
Woolworths’ lenders still have to approve the offer, but further negotiations
between the retailer, its banks and Hilco are scheduled for today.
The new deal would allow Hilco to assume up to £300m of the group’s debts in
return for the retail business. Hilco is expected to place the retail unit
through a prepackaged administration to enable it to close its worst-performing
stores as quickly as possible.
Further reading:
Woolworths’ demise could leave blood in high st
Woolworths ponders £1 sale of retail arm to Hilco