HMV and WH Smith owners compete over British Claire’s branch

At least two prospective buyers have made formal bids for the British subsidiary of bankrupt accessories chain Claire’s. They are the owners of music retailer HMV and of bookstore chain WH Smith.

Possibly not all stores saved

Modella Capital, the investment fund that recently acquired WH Smith (and plans to convert it to “TG Jones”), has made a formal takeover bid for the British operations of Claire’s, which went into receivership last month. The proposed deal includes 278 stores in the United Kingdom, 28 in Ireland and about 2,150 employees.

Modella is not the only candidate, though: Doug Putman, the Canadian billionaire who saved HMV from collapse in 2019, is also said to have submitted a bid, Sky News reports. Earlier, he had also unsuccessfully attempted to take over bankrupt discount chain Wilko – as well as expressed interest in… WH Smith.

It is not clear whether any additional bidders are competing: the administrator has no further information, but does confirm that the stores will remain open in the meantime. Observers consider it unlikely that all stores will be saved: only about a hundred locations would be commercially viable.

In the United States, the bankrupt retailer is selling 950 stores to investor Ames Watson. As a consequence of the American bankruptcy, Claire’s European subsidiaries have fallen one by one – including those in Belgium, the Netherlands and France.