Crawshaw Group, a troubled retail butchery chain partly owned by 2 Sisters founder Ranjit Boparan, which went into administration in November, has announced that certain business and assets of the group have been sold to Loughanure, a company newly formed for the purpose of the acquisition.
The sale completed on 1 December 2018 and secures continued employment for c.240 employees of the Group.
The sale follows a sale process run by the Joint Administrators which resulted in over 50 expressions of interest in parts or all of the group’s business. Loughanure have paid around £1.4m for certain business and assets of the Group, subject to adjustment following completion of a stock count.
The sale has resulted in substantially all of the Group’s realisable assets being sold and the group has ceased to trade. The trade of the business will now be continued by Loughanure.
The Joint Administrators are continuing to market the sale of certain closed stores and related assets as well as recovering outstanding debtors.
The joint administrators said the offer from Loughanure represented the best outcome for the creditors, employees and shareholders of the group. Following the sale, the joint administrators will be assessing the dividend prospects for the unsecured creditors of the group and further details will be issued to the creditors of each company and the shareholders of the group in due course.
The Group operated 54 butchers’ stores across the North of England and the Midlands, with a distribution centre in Astley, Greater Manchester and a distribution and production facility in Hellaby, Rotherham. On 1 November and 2 November 2018, immediately prior to the appointment of the joint administrators, the directors closed 35 stores and the Astley distribution centre.
The remaining 19 stores and the Hellaby production and distribution facility have been sold to Loughanure. The Group’s only remaining assets are a long leasehold property in Grimsby, short leasehold interests in closed stores, surplus store equipment and a number of vehicles.