// Mamas & Papas hires advisers from Deloitte to explore sale of the business
// In 2014, the retailer turned to a CVA which led to store closures
Mamas & Papas has appointed advisers from Deloitte to explore a sale of the business as it struggles on the UK’s high street.
The news comes five years after Deloitte handled a CVA for the retailer in 2014, resulting in Mamas & Papas closing down half of its store estate, The Sunday Times reported.
Following its restructuring, Mamas & Papas now has 31 stores in the UK with 900 colleagues.
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- Mamas & Papas suffers second straight year of loss
Private equity firm BlueGem reportedly invested £20 million into Mamas & Papas when it bought the retailer in 2014.
BlueGem is also the former owner of Jack Wills, which it sold to Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct in a pre-pack administration deal, and Liberty, of which it offloaded its majority stake for £300 million a few months ago.
For the year ended April 2018, Mamas & Papas revealed annual losses for a second year, after sales plunged £8.2 million, down from £10.3 million a year earlier.
The retailer’s parent company Stork Beta had injected £2.5 million into the retailer during the year to improve its store estate while also reducing costs.
Mamas & Papas said operating costs had risen by £670,000 in one year because of the devaluation of sterling and the increased living wage.
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