Laura Ashley owner weighs up Wilko rescue bid

The owner of Laura Ashley is said to be weighing up a bid for stricken retailer Wilko.

Gordon Brothers is in talks with Wilko’s advisers over a potential restructuring deal, according to Sky News.

Reports suggest that Gordon Brothers could provide funding to rescue Worksop-headquartered Wilko, but that the deal would involve a major restructuring deal that would inevitably bring store closure and job losses.

However, sources said that the chances of a deal being reached between the two parties was “relatively low”.

On Monday (August 6) we reported that any rescue of stricken Nottinghamshire retailer Wilko will cost an investor up to £70m.

TheBusinessDesk.com was first to break the news that Wilko had posted a notice of intention (NOI) to appoint administrators last Thursday, putting 12,000 jobs at risk.

When Wilko filed its NOI last week, CEO Mark Jackson said: “While we can confirm we’ve had a significant level of interest, including indicative offers that we believe would meet all our financial criteria to recapitalise the business, at present, we don’t today have an offer that provides the necessary liquidity in the time we have available, given the mounting cash pressures we’re faced with.”