The little-known investor reducing a swathe by way of the British excessive road has made it onto a shortlist of bidders vying to purchase Poundland, the struggling discounter.
Its progress within the sale course of raises the prospect of Modella taking possession of its fourth main British retailer in lower than 9 months.
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The funding agency already owns Hobbycraft and The Unique Manufacturing facility Store, the place it has in latest weeks launched firm voluntary preparations – court-sanctioned restructuring offers which permit it to shut loss-making shops and slash hire funds.
Modella has additionally agreed to purchase WH Smith’s historic excessive road chain and rebrand it beneath the title TG Jones.
Among the many different suitors for Poundland are Infinite, the turnaround investor, and Hilco Capital, the brand new proprietor of Lakeland.
Poundland has been put up on the market by Pepco Group, its Warsaw-listed proprietor, amid mounting losses and a wrestle to show the corporate round.
Pepco confirmed in March that it deliberate to discover a sale of the enterprise, with Teneo employed to advise on an public sale.
Final yr, Poundland, which employs about 18,000 folks, recorded roughly €2bn of gross sales.
Earlier this yr, Pepco, which additionally trades as Pepco and Dealz in Europe, stated Poundland had seen a like-for-like gross sales hunch of seven.3% through the Christmas buying and selling interval.
In an accompanying buying and selling assertion, Pepco stated that Poundland had suffered “a more difficult sales environment and consumer backdrop in the UK, alongside margin pressure and an increasingly higher operating cost environment”.
Latest tax hikes introduced by Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, in final autumn’s Funds have additionally elevated the monetary strain on excessive road retailers.
Modella declined to touch upon its curiosity in Poundland.
