BHS receives 8220 several approaches 8221 for a takeover

Sir Philip Green has said that he is considering a number of takeover bids for BHS.


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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Department store chain BHS is subject to several takeover approaches, according to the company's owner.

Sir Philip Green, controller of Arcadia which includes brands such as Topshop, Burton and Evans alongside BHS, explained that he is considering a possible sale of the department store. BHS currently employs around 12,000 staff across 180 stores but has been going through challenging times of late.

According to the most recent accounts available at Companies House, BHS lost £69.6 million on sales of £675.7 million during 2013. This represented a decline of 3.5 per cent on the same period a year earlier. Its performance is in stark contrast to Topshop which has been labelled the success story of the Arcadia Group, expanding to locations in Europe and beyond.

A spokesperson for Arcadia has now suggested that Sir Philip could be looking to sell off BHS, which was purchased from Storehouse for £200 million in 2000. The spokesperson said: "We have had several approaches on BHS over the past few months. It is now the company's plan to explore whether any of these can be brought to a conclusion."

BHS has a number of unprofitable stores and the 2013 accounts predict that the company is expected to record losses of £10 million in the coming year. This is down to the company failing to cover the costs on the struggling stores. BHS's poor performance has impacted on the overall figures of Arcadia which posted a three per cent fall in profit in November.

The decision to sell off BHS could present an opportunity for Arcadia to recover from this slump in performance. Announcing the drop in profits in late-2014, Sir Philip explained that the turnaround of BHS remains a challenging proposition, as has been evident in the trading statement.

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