London - Jones Bootmaker has been saved from collapsing into administration as the high street chain has been sold through a pre-pack administration deal to Endless.

Jones Bootmaker was teetering on the edge of falling into administration last week when the private equity firm came through on the 11th hour and agreed to take over the footwear retailer for a reported 10.5 million pounds. Previously reports indicated that Endless had offered 10 million pounds for the 160 year old high street chain, but that parent company Alteri was holding out for 11 million pounds.

Endless acquires Jones Bootmaker through pre-pack administration deal

The deal, which saw Will Wright, Steve Absolom and Blair Nimmo from KPMG appointed as joint administrators, sees Endless acquire 72 stores out of 100, thereby securing approximately 840 jobs from 1,100 at risk. 25 underperforming Jones Bootmaker stores and 6 concessions were not included in the sale and are set to be shut with immediately effect, leading to approximately 262 jobs losses, confirmed KPMG in a statement. However the footwear retailer's head office roles are secure for now.

"We are delighted that we have been able to rescue such an iconic UK footwear brand as Jones Bootmaker, including a high proportion of stores and preserving a large number of jobs, especially given the current economic pressures faced by retailers across the UK," commented Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator. "This deal recognises the value of Jones as a strong and popular high street brand with a loyal customer base."

The move to sell off Jones Bootmaker comes not long after high-end lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur was sold off through a pre-pack administration deal to Four Holdings - a company in which Sports Direct holds a 25 percent stake in - amidst growing contraversary for pre-pack administration processes to be banned. The process sees businesses freed from leases on loss making stores, as well as debts before being sold on, but leaves creditors unable to recuperate their losses and can leave employees without a job at a moments' notice.

"Whilst it is always pleasing to preserve a significant number of jobs, sadly a number of redundancies are to be made at the closed stores," added Steve Absolom, joint administrator at KPMG. "Over the coming days, our priority is to ensure all employees who have been affected by redundancy receive the information and guidance they need in order to claim monies owed from the Redundancy Payments Office."

Unfortunately for Jones Bootmaker sister brand Brantano, an 11th hour rescue was not on the cards as the value footwear retailer was placed into administration last week. The two footwear retailers had previously been acquired by Alteri in 2015 for approximately 12 million pounds. Footwear retailers have been struggling over the last few months, as new data indicates they are the hardest hit category during the recent retail slump. Shoe stores suffered their ninth consecutive month of decline in February, reporting a 5.2 percent drop in spend according to data from Barclays in comparison to a 0.4 percent increase the overall apparel sector.

Photo: By Martin Pettitt Follow, via Flickr

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