Yorkshire retail chain Maynews bought by rival
YORKSHIRE-BASED newsagent chain Maynews has been acquired by a Birmingham rival to create a £90m turnover business.
First Stop News, the holding company of Rippleglen, a Birmingham-based CTN (confectionery, tobacco, news) operator, has acquired York business Maynews, which has 20 shops, all based in Yorkshire except for one in Nailsea, Bristol, for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition will boost First Stop News to a total of 125 stores, with a combined turnover of more than £90m, making it the second largest CTN business in the UK, employing around 700 people.
It trades under the Arden News, Supernews and News Shops fascias in the Midlands, North West, Yorkshire and North and South Wales.
Maynews was founded in 1984 when managing director Tony Wright and his business partners bought several newsagent branches in Yorkshire and the West Country from confectionery manufacturer Maynards.
The directors of Maynews were advised by Martin Frost, corporate partner at York commercial law firm Denison Till, supported by commercial property partner Ann Laverty and Tiggy Clifford and Emma Atkins from the firm’s employment department.
Tony Wright commented: “Our executive board of directors are not getting any younger and we felt that, after 28 years at the helm, the best interests of the company would be served if we could pass on our responsibilities to an organisation that could continue to grow Maynews in the challenging years ahead. Our primary consideration was the protection of jobs for our loyal, long-serving staff and as one of the largest, specialist CTN operators in our industry, First Stop News was the best placed company to fulfil our aspirations. We wish Mike Colley and his team at First Stop News every success on building on our strong customer base.”
Keith Ward partner of UHY Calvert Smith acountants advised the sellers along with Robert Campany of Brodie Marshall & Co.
Mike Colley, who led the successful management buyout of Rippleglen in April 2011, commented: “I have known Tony Wright for many years and am very happy to be in a position to acquire Maynews, a well-known Yorkshire based retail chain. It is a very well run, established business which will fit comfortably within our portfolio.”
“It’s a very exciting time for us at First Stop News as we have just completed the roll out of our new high street discount format, trading as Supernews. We are about to begin the roll out of Supernews local, the home news delivered division of our company and the acquisition of these CTN shops will enable us to further develop the news side of our business, helping to reduce dependency on tobacco, which is a declining market.”
First Stop News will rebrand the Maynews stores as Supernews in the coming months.
Graham Muth of DWF in Birmingham, handled the legal work required with accountancy and consultancy firm Mazars providing tax advice and accountancy support for the purchasers.
