British government monitors the impending closure of Poundland

Is Poundland’s demise inevitable, or do its American owners try to make more money from winding down the discount chain than from a rescue? The British government is asking itself that question now that investment firm Gordon Brothers has rejected a takeover bid. Some 12,000 jobs are at stake.

More money from bankruptcy?

British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is investigating whether Gordon Brothers is unnecessarily pushing the struggling discount chain Poundland toward bankruptcy, the Financial Times reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. Gordon Brothers purchased Poundland just last year for the symbolic sum of one British pound from Pepco, which still holds a minority stake. Now the investor threatens to break up the retail chain—which has about 600 stores—and sell its parts separately to competitors.