Embattled clothing retail group Edcon on Monday confirmed that it has signed a sale agreement of its 90-year-old Edgars chain to Durban-based private retail group Retailability, for an undisclosed amount. It’s likely, however, that the deal has come as a bargain, with Edcon being in the throws of business rescue.
Edcon said in a statement that the “sale and purchase agreement” with Retailability is for “parts of Edgars”, without mentioning how many stores are included in the deal.
The deal effectively means only the most profitable Edgars stores in South Africa are part of the transaction, which is similar to Edcon’s recently-concluded sale of its Jet chain to JSE-listed TFG.
Negotiations are still underway regarding the sale of its Edgars stores in other African countries.
While Retailability is not listed on the JSE, the group has a history going back to 1984 and has since 2015 been backed by Johannesburg-based private equity firm Metier.
Source: Monewyeb
