Wilko is set to announce job losses on Thursday (31 August) after M2 Capital’s offer to buy the entire business failed.
Administrator PwC had set a deadline of 5pm on Wednesday for M2 Capital to submit more information and provide evidence that it had proof of funds.
It is understood that administrators were sceptical about the firm’s credibility and have refused to give M2 Capital more time.
Redundancies at Wilko are now expected to be announced today, with jobs at the retailer’s head office and distribution centre expected to be cut.
Despite the collapse of the M2 Capital bid, PwC are understood to still be mulling over HMV owner Doug Putman’s offer, which would see him take on the majority of Wilko’s stores and its brand name.
However, The Sun reports that Putman does not want to take the retailer’s distribution centre or head office.
On Tuesday it emerged that job cuts and store closures would be paused at Wilko whilst administrators looked through late bids that came through from M2 Capital and Putman.
M2 Capital chairman Robert Manste made a £90m bid for the stricken retailer’s stores and its 12,500 workers last Friday on behalf of an unnamed billionaire in the US.
Mantse expressed concerns on Tuesday that administrators at PwC were unfairly blocking his offer when they requested evidence of his funding position, with the GMB then claiming administrators were not properly considering the bids.
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Email correspondence between Mantse and PwC, seen by The Times, show that he wanted access to Wilko’s commercially sensitive data without confirming that he could fund a bid.
A source close to the talks told the publication it was “the first time I’ve seen something at this level of extremity”, adding that Mantse was unable to answer “very normal questions”.
Also, administrators could not reach Mantse on the mobile number provided in his email signature, which he said was because he had lost his phone while jetskiing.
Mantse told the newspaper: “That mobile is sitting at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Corfu. We have a call with my investor.
“I’m not going to say his name, but it’s with one of his two right-hand [men]. [He’s] a British-born gentleman, a billionaire in the US today.
The GMB were told by PwC yesterday that if no further evidence was provided by M2 Capital “then the redundancies which were paused yesterday are likely to be restarted tomorrow”, GMB said.
“Whilst this does mean that there are bids on the table for a significant proportion of the
stores and the online business, we still cannot guarantee the future of any jobs moving
forwards at this point,” the union added.
PwC declined to comment.
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