23rd Apr 2019 14:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - Majestic Wine PLC is seeking a buyer for its entire UK retail portfolio as the company surges ahead with its restructuring and rebranding to online brand Naked Wines, according to Sky News.
Sky is reporting that Majestic Wine has appointed bankers at Rothschild to find prospective buyers for its retail and commercial operations, which include Majestic's roughly 200 UK stores.
According to Sky, private equity firms have been contacted in the last fortnight to gauge interest in the potential acquisition.
https://news.sky.com/story/majestic-eyes-retail-exit-in-naked-push-for-growth-11701506
Shares in Majestic Wine were up 0.6% Tuesday at 238.98 pence each.
At the end of March, Majestic announced it was undergoing a transformation and would be rebranding itself as Naked Wines.
Majestic bought online wine retailer Naked Wines in 2015 for GBP70 million, with Naked Wines founder Rowan Gormley given the role of chief executive at Majestic.
Majestic will recognise restructuring charges of as much as GBP10 million in the year to April, relating to the transformation plan, which will be largely non-cash.
At the time, Majestic said it would fund its transformation by releasing value from Majestic Wine by selling assets and closing stores, and will also migrate Majestic customers to the Naked brand.
Majestic is expecting to meet its GBP500 million sales target for financial 2019 and its adjusted profit before tax is expected to be close to the current consensus of GBP11.1 million.
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