Administrators for BHS have received several offers for all or part of the failed department store chain, raising hopes that a buyer could be found within days. (The Financial Times £)
Five bidders submitted offers for the bulk of the failed retailer before the final deadline yesterday. Duff & Phelps, the administrator to BHS, which collapsed last month putting more than 10,000 jobs at risk, set a deadline of 5pm for offers. (The Times £)
One of the prospective saviours of BHS has committed not to extract any money from the retailer for three years if he succeeds in buying the 88-year-old retailer out of administration. Yousuf Bhailok, a Preston-based property millionaire, confirmed that his renamed investment vehicle, Retail Revive, formally lodged its interest with administrators yesterday. (The Telegraph)
Meanwhile, Dominic Chappell oversaw the sale of BHS’s main distribution centre for £15m and then used some of the proceeds to pay off a loan he had taken out when buying the retailer. BHS sold its warehouse in Atherstone, Warwickshire, for £15m last August, with £5m then paid to Retail Acquisitions, Chappell’s consortium, as an inter-company loan. (The Guardian)
Shares in the luxury chocolate maker Hotel Chocolat surged by more than a quarter in their first day of trading on the stock market. (The Guardian, The Financial Times £, The Times £). Also The Daily Mail has a 60 second interview with Hotel Chocolat co-founder Angus Thirlwell.
Amazon is poised to start selling fresh groceries including staples such as milk and bananas on the back of its tie-up with supermarket chain Morrisons. Amazon inadvertently made public its listings for Morrisons branded fresh food on Tuesday, including diced chicken breasts, smoked ham slices and ready meals. All had been removed by the end of the day. (The Guardian)
Associated British Foods is looking to sell its lossmaking sugar business in China to focus on its sugar operations in Europe and Africa. The British conglomerate has invited bids for its five cane sugar mills in southern China and two sugar beet factories in the north-east of the country, according to people familiar with the situation. (The Financial Times £)
Melon juice start-up Mello, which launched just two years ago, is forecasting a tasty sales rise to £1.75m this year, up from just £100,000 in year one, as it rolls out a further juice variety and a new snack range across the UK. (The Telegraph)
In a bid to capitalise on US election fever during the busiest season for beer sales, Budweiser will replace its name with ‘America’ on the front of its 12-oz cans and bottles from May 23 until the presidential vote in November. (The Financial Times £)
Takeaway firm Pizza Hut is planning to serve up at least 3,000 new jobs as it embarks on a £40m expansion in the UK and Ireland over the next four years.(The Telegraph)
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