Bestway buys Bargain Booze and Wine Rack for £7.3m

Conviviality has confirmed the sale of its retail assets, including Bargain Booze and Wine Rack, to fellow retailer Bestway, securing around 800 stores and 2,300 jobs in the process.

Conviviality first announced it would call in administrators at the end of March, following a profit warning after discovering it had a £30m unpaid tax bill. Chief executive Diana Hunter also stepped down last month.

PwC was appointed as administrator for Bargain Booze, Wine Rack and Conviviality Retail Logistics on Friday 6 April, before the deal with Bestway was confirmed this morning.

Conviviality operated throughout the UK under retail brands Bargain Booze, Central Convenience, Select Convenience, and Wine Rack, and its retail business had a gross revenue of £378m.

Bargain Booze is headquartered in Crewe, while the wider group has operations in Runcorn. In October last year the Crewe headquarters was sold to investor AEW for £10.4m.

The Bestway Group operates around 1,100 retail stores across the country through its Best-One brand, and also has a wholesale arm, Bestway Wholesale.

It is the second deal to be concluded for Conviviality’s assets after its wholesale arms, Matthew Clark and Bibendum, were bought by Magners owner C&C in a pre-pack deal last week, in a move that secured around 2,000 jobs.

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