Variety discount retailer Pepco Group has entered into an agreement with PwC to acquire up to 71 Wilko store leases in the UK.
The deal will see these stores join Poundland’s existing 800-plus UK estate and trade through the fourth quarter of 2023, the company noted.
Andy Bond, executive chair of Pepco Group said, "The agreement to take control of a number of Wilko store leases will help to bring Poundland’s fantastic prices and offer to even more customers in the UK.
"It will be pleasing to offer employment to a number of Wilko’s colleagues - who will benefit from being part of a successful and fast-growing pan-European variety discount group"
Pepco added that it hopes to complete the lease assignments in early autumn and rebrand the stores at the earliest.
The announcement came a day after trade union GMB said the entire chain of 400 Wilko homeware stores would close in October, with the likely loss of all 12,500 jobs.
Common Sourcing Platform
Pepco Group aims to improve its operations by moving to a common, global sourcing platform by leveraging the group’s end-to-end sourcing entity, PGS.
This autumn, the retailer will offer Pepco clothing sourced by PGS in Poundland.
PGS will also supply all own-brand general merchandise and FMCG across the group from next year.
In June of this year, the group completed a debt refinancing round with its inaugural bond issue of €375 million. It saw strong demand from international and Polish investors and was multiple times oversubscribed.
Pepco also received supportive ratings from three major credit agencies - Fitch, S&P and Moody’s - which recognised the robustness of the business and a healthy organic growth profile.
