B&M buys 51 bankrupt Wilko stores

British home goods and textiles retailer B&M, listed on the London Stock Exchange, reportedly agreed to buy 51 stores owned by Wilko, which recently went bankrupt.

The B&M statement notes that the company has agreed to buy 51 stores belonging to Wilko, one of the country’s largest retail chains, for a total of 13 million pounds.

B&M, which sells discounted homeware, textiles and decoration products, employs approximately 35,000 people in its 700 UK stores. The company’s market value is around £5 billion.

Wilko, which employed 400 stores and 12,000 people in the UK in August, filed for bankruptcy after being unable to find financing.

A RECORD NUMBER OF BANKRUPTCY COMPANIES

According to data released by the British government in July, the number of companies that went bankrupt in the country in the second quarter of this year reached 6,342, the highest level since 2009.

Recalling that a total of 6,342 companies went bankrupt in the second quarter of the year, the Center for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), based in London, recalled that, according to the institution’s modeling, 7,000 companies in each quarter of 2024 in the country. It was found that a total of 28,000 companies could face the risk of bankruptcy. (AA)