Sports Direct outbid on BHS

Mike Ashley, owner of Sports Direct, is said to be out of the running after being outbid by rival bidders that include Matalan and Edinburgh Woollen Mill. A mystery fourth bidder, believed to be a European retailer or finance house, is also thought to be ahead of Ashley.

Other bidders, suggested to include Dominic Chappell, the head of BHS’s former owner Retail Acquisitions and Yousuf Bhailok, a property entrepreneur, have dropped out alongside other parties due to administrators’ insistence that a buyer take on the business as a whole.  However, it has been reported that Aziz Tayub, multi-millionaire owner of the Poundstretcher discount chain, has made a last-minute offer.

Administrators are trying to secure a future for BHS and are only considering bids for the entire business in order to save as many jobs as possible. However, they are interested in an offer put forward by John Hargreaves, Matalan founder, and Cafer Mahiroglu, Turkish entrepreneur, who was a late bidder. Hargreaves was said to have spent several hours on Tuesday meeting with senior management and staff at BHS.

Administrators are not expected to finalise a deal until next week, later than their expected deadline of this weekend.

BHS’s collapse is now the subject of inquiries with MP’s calling lawyers, accountants and financial firms who advised companies on both sides of the transaction to give evidence. The work and pensions committee and the business innovation and skills committee confirmed plans to call 29 witnesses including Chris Martin, chairman of the BHS pension fund trustees and his predecessor Margaret Downes, to find answers on how its pension schemes came to be burdened with a deficit of £571m.

Sports Direct outbid on BHS