B&M snaps up 51 Wilko stores

Discounter B&M has agreed to buy 51 stores from the collapsed discounter Wilko, state latest reports after talks with the billionaire owner of HMV for a larger rescue deal hit a snag.

The Liverpool headquartered B&M said today (5) that it had secured a deal to buy the tranche of Wilko stores for £13 million. It is unclear what the impact will be for Wilko staff.

B&M, one of the UK’s most successful discount retailers with a market value of £5bn and 1,100 outlets nationwide and in France, declared the acquisition of 51 stores in an update to investors, saying that the consideration is fully funded from “existing cash reserves and the acquisition is not expected to be conditional on any regulatory clearances”.

While the company did not say if any staff would be kept on, its statement suggests that the sites are set to be relaunched, under its brand, within weeks.

“An update on the timing of these new store openings will be provided in the… interim results announcement on 9 November 2023.”

B&M has not confirmed which Wilko shops it has bought.

Administrators at PwC are also in talks with other potential suitors including Poundland, Home Bargains and The Range about saving some of Wilko’s stores.

The move by B&M comes as a deal tabled by the Canadian entrepreneur Doug Putman to save the majority of Wilko stores hangs in the balance. The rescue deal proposed by Putman, who is known for engineering the turnaround of HMV in the UK, was aimed to save 300 of Wilko’s 400 stores, throwing a lifeline to its more than 12,000 staff.

Wilko was founded in 1930 and by the 1990s became one of Britain’s fastest-growing retailers. But the discount chain has faced strong competition from rivals including B&M, Poundland and Home Bargains, as the high cost of living has pushed shoppers to seek out bargains.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, told News Sky, “Wilko’s collapse is B&M’s gain, given that the successful value retailer had made no secret of wanting to open more shops across the UK. The soon-to-be vacant premises were easy picking for B&M and it is likely that the retailer has been ultra-choosy when it comes to cherry picking locations.”