MUSGRAVE GROUP, one of troubled Superquinn’s main rivals, is among a number of potential bidders for the grocery chain, which was taken over by its banks late yesterday.
A syndicate of banks, including AIB, Bank of Ireland and National Irish Bank, appointed Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson of accountancy firm KPMG to Superquinn, which operates 24 stores and employs 2,800 people, yesterday.
Superquinn, controlled by the privately owned Select Retail Holdings, owes the lenders more than €400 million in mainly property-related secured loans.
According to industry sources, Superquinn rival Musgrave’s, which operates a series of grocery chain franchises in Ireland and Britain, is one of a number of parties now considering a bid for the group.
Musgrave’s, which owns the Supervalu, Londis and Mace convenience store and supermarket brands, is known to have been interested in bidding for Superquinn in the past, but has not made any formal approach before now.
The Musgrave Group had sales of €4.4 billion in 2010 and profits of €72 million. Its franchises have more than 20 per cent of the national grocery market. The group did not comment last night.
A number of other bidders are said to be circling Superquinn at this stage. British chains such as Sainsbury’s and Waitrose have also been named in the past as potential buyers.
A statement from the receivers said that they intend to continue trading as normal and are confident the business can be sold as a going concern.
Their statement added that the chain will continue to employ its 2,800 staff and management, led by chief executive, Andrew Street, for the duration of this process.
The receivers also intend contacting the chain’s suppliers over the coming days to inform them of the implications of the process.
According to their statement, they wish to continue to do business with suppliers and will ensure payment for future deliveries for the duration of the receivership.
Mr Richardson explained that Superquinn has been operating in tough trading environment and has a large amount of debt.
“The group, which has been operating in a tough trading environment, has been heavily indebted, primarily due to property-related loans.
“Therefore, this receivership, together with the planned sale as a going concern, is a positive development for Superquinn, its employees and customers,” he said.
Select Retail Holdings, backed by property dealers, David Courtney and Bernard Doyle; businessmen Simon Burke, David Cantrell, Kieran Ryan, and property developers Bernard McNamara and Gerry O’Reilly, bought Superquinn from its founder Senator Fergal Quinn and his family, in January 2005 for a reported €450 million.
Mr Burke recently left the company while Mr McNamara exited a number of years ago.
Mr Quinn founded the company in Dundalk in 1960 and the group expanded to encompass 24 stories, with 16 in Dublin and other stories in Kilkenny, Carlow, Clonmel, Waterford, Limerick, Bray, Charlesland, and Portlaoise.
The company competed with larger national and internationally owned rivals by concentrating on the upper segment of the market and focusing on innovations such as loyalty cards and self-scanning.
It was also one of the first supermarket chains to introduce online shopping.
As a privately held company it does not disclose its sales or profit figures.
Sales were estimated to be in the region of €500 million in 2009.
The company’s share of the Republic’s grocery market is said to have fallen from 9 per cent to 6 per cent over the last three years as its customers have shifted to cheaper competitors.
