Frasers Group has pulled out of its acquisition of SportScheck after the German sports chain filed for administration on Thursday and will instead seek a pre-pack deal for the business.
The retail group said it had exercised its right to back out of the deal amid the ongoing financial crisis surrounding SportScheck owner Signa Holdings, which filed for insolvency this week.
In an update on Thursday, Frasers said it was “disappointed” by the retailer’s insolvency but that it “continues to believe that SportScheck is an attractive asset in one of Europe’s most important markets for sports”.
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As such, the group said it “intends to work with the appointed preliminary insolvency administrator of SportScheck with a view to acquiring the [retailer’s] business/assets out of administration”.
Frasers is also understood to be circling Signa Sports-owned online bike retailer Wiggle, which fell into administration earlier this month.
Signa Holdings filed for insolvency on Thursday after it admitted it it could not find the “necessary liquidity” as it struggled with “severe economic pressure”.
The Austrian firm shared in a statement that an “out-of-court restructuring process could not be sufficiently secured”.
Signa also owns a stake in Selfridges. It had bought the department stores in a joint venture last year in a £4bn deal with Thailand’s Central Group, however Central took majority ownership of the trading company earlier this month.
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