RAPAPORT... UK jeweler Theo Fennell has entered administration, almost
four years after a private equity group acquired the high-end retailer.
Administrators from professional-services firm BDO have
already received “a number of expressions of interest” since their appointment
on Friday, BDO partner Matthew Tait said Sunday. An administrator’s job is to
try and rescue a business or sell it off.
Theo Fennell, a jewelry designer and manufacturer, has
around 30 stores in upmarket locations across England and around the world,
employing 54 staff members. EME Capital bought the company for $3.8 million
(GBP 2.9 million) in 2013 and delisted it from the London Stock Exchange’s
Alternative Investment Market.
“Unfortunately, the financial burden of certain fixed costs
have weighed heavily upon the company as it implemented its own restructuring
plan,” Tait said. “While the market has remained strong for fine and luxury
goods, the cost and pace of that restructuring could not be supported by the
company indefinitely.”
A “limited” number of layoffs have been necessary at the
jeweler, BDO added.
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