Fate of Toys R Us in the UK may become clear today

The company that owns HMV is one of a few bidders looking to put together a buyout deal for Toys R Us in the UK.

Toys R Us, for many years the UK’s largest toy retailer and LEGO stockist, is on the brink of closing its doors permanently. Sky News reports that Hilco Capital, a company known for investing in retailers on the brink of closure, is looking at saving Toy R Us as it did with HMV a few years ago. Toys R Us in the USA has put up the entire European operation for sale, in an attempt to save the company. It is understood that the deadline to have a plan in place for the UK arm of Toys R Us is today.

The truncated timetable underlines the precarious future of Toys R Us in Britain, just six weeks after it was thought to have been salvaged in an 11th-hour rescue deal.

The entire European operations of the ailing retailer are now on the market, encompassing 236 stores outside the UK in 10 countries including Austria, France, Germany and Spain.

 

Without new funds, the UK arm of the company will go into administration at the end of the month. It is possible that potential buyers such as Hilco will wait until the company is in administration, when it is potentially easier to select which stores to buy up.

Sky News notes that Christmas trading was weak, likely due to a lack of stock and the retailer’s woes a regular feature in the news:

Poor Christmas trading has left the British business facing cashflow issues, and one insider said it looked “close to unsaveable”.

More news will be reported at Brick Fanatics as soon as it becomes available.