Next PLC (LSE:NXT) has won the battle to buy country-fashion retailer Joules after it went into administration for £45mln.
The FTSE 100 retail giant, which also bought collapsed furniture e-retailer Made.com last month, will pay £34mln in cash for 74% of the equity and another £7mln for the current Joules head office, with the remaining 26% owned by founder Tom Joule.
It intends to continue to operate around 100 of the current 124 stores in the UK and Ireland if it can agree terms with landlords, Next said in a statement confirming the deal, while 19 stores will be closed by the administrator today.
Most of Joules' 1,600 staff will be kept on, it added, with the chain maintaining its "management autonomy and creative independence", with its own board of directors.
Among the rival bidders that were beaten to the deal was South Africa’s Foschini Group, which owns Phase Eight, while Frasers Group PLC (LSE:FRAS) was also thought have been interested.
Joules, which started life as a clothing stall at a country show in Leicestershire in the 1980s, posted multiple profit warnings this year amid supply chain difficulties and waning consumer appetite due to the cost-of-living crisis.
Talks were held over a number of weeks during the summer about Next investing in the chain, though nothing came of it as Joules reported continued weak trading.