Toys R Us UK is once again under threat as its US counterpart scrambles to find a buyer following a dreary Christmas trading period.
According to Sky News, Alvarez & Marshal – the company dealing with the US retailer’s bankruptcy protection – has begun the search for a potential buyer of the embattled toy retailer and hopes to do so within the coming weeks.
The new search comes just weeks after the UK arm of the retailer was saved from the brink of collapse three days before Christmas, when a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) was agreed upon.
This was intended to give Toys R Us UK time to restructure its finances, closing nearly 30 loss-making stores and securing rent reductions across the rest of its estate.
Amid these plans 800 jobs were expected to be cut, but if the sales process does not go as planned a further 2400 staff who had previously thought their jobs were saved in the Christmas CVA, would now be placed in jeopardy.
Despite coming close to voting against the deal, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) agreed on the CVA after the company agreed to pay £10 million into its scheme over the next three years.
However, a it is unclear whether a new owner would commit to this deal.
“The US business is exploring a number of options as it develops plans to exit Chapter 11,” a Toys R Us UK spokesman told Sky News.
“These conversations are confidential but I can assure you that they are acting in the best interests of employees, business partners, shareholders and lenders.”
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