Birmingham law firm advises administrators on sale of major bar operator

Freeths Birmingham has advised Grant Thornton, acting as administrator for the CC Stim UK Group of companies, in the sale of Rekom Group’s UK branch, safeguarding 950 jobs.

Established in 2007, Rekom UK, which operates nearly 40 clubs and late-night bars across the UK, called in administrators earlier this month – just three years after a major restructuring. 471 jobs were lost across 17 sites including Birmingham and Nottingham’s Pryzm nightclubs and Jumpin Jaks in Coventry.

The sale includes transferring ownership of 21 Rekom sites across the UK.

Leading the legal team at Freeths was restructuring partner John Jeffreys, with support from Oliver Jackson, James Dyson, Thomas Childs, Grace Millar, Charlotte Beddows, and Jaskiran Deol.

Jeffreys said: “It’s been wonderful to work collaboratively with our national Freeths team and with the team at Grant Thornton led by Jon Roden and Rob Parker on this deal which has helped preserve almost a thousand jobs across the UK in a sector hard-hit by current economic challenges. Highlighting our specific sector capabilities and experience in hospitality and leisure, this transaction will help to secure a future in the UK for this long-standing market-leading brand.”

Rekom UK, previously called Deltic Group, faced financial trouble due to the pandemic in 2020. It was bought by Rekom Group A/S, a club operator from Scandinavia, becoming Europe’s biggest club operator. The Scandinavian part of the business is not affected.