Latest owner puts greetings retailer up for auction just four months after taking over
Paperchase has been put up for sale again just over four months after the last change of ownership at the greetings and stationery retailer.
With the company in the news following comedian Joe Lycett taking it to task on his TV show over its 2021 administration deal that left greeting card publishers thousands of pounds out of pocket, Sky News reported yesterday, 11 January, that current owner Steve Curtis has asked PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to auction his asset.
The experienced retail investor, who led investments in chains such as Tie Rack and has been an operating partner at turnaround firm Rcapital, is understood to be seeking to close a sale in the coming weeks with Sky reporting “several sources said an insolvency process may be required to expedite a transaction”.
Paperchase had been a Covid casualty, with its then 125 stores and near 1,300 staff subject to the pre-pack administration deal in January 2021 when Permira Credit took over.
A number of greeting card publishers were left thousands of pounds out of pocket because the deal didn’t involve paying them for goods already supplied but the products were still allowed to be sold through by the new owner.
The chain saw an improvement in its financial and operating performance, aided by the closure of a number of stores as part of the insolvency process, and Permira Credit also invested in its digital offering.
PwC brokered the deal which saw Steve Curtis and industry advisory firm Retail Realisation, with which he and Rcapital are affiliated, take control in August 2022 when there were 96 standalone shops and 32 concessions in House of Fraser, Selfridges, and Next, and the new owners were believed to back an existing management plan to work towards increasing that to approximately 150 stores.
Sky News said Paperchase could not be reached for comment and neither Steve Curtis nor PwC had responded to enquiries yesterday, but the channel’s city editor Mark Kleinman commented: “The plan to grow the chain by 50% was a bold bet on the potential of the Paperchase brand and business model given the challenging economic backdrop.”
Top: Paperchase is up for sale again
