Potential buyers of the historic McEwens of Perth brand have been urged to hand in their best and final offers as the company’s flagship store closed its doors for the last time yesterday.
The retail chain, founded in 1868, had continued to trade in its main Perth outlet after it folded in March, while outlets in Oban and Ballater had shut their doors with “immediate effect”. All told the company employed 130 when administrators KPMG were called in.
Intellectual property firm Metis Partners was appointed to handle the sale of assets including “the iconic McEwens of Perth brand and reputation”, rights over Boutique McEwens, e-commerce website content, branded domain names and customer databases. The agents confirmed interest in buying the name of the store had come from prospects in the UK and overseas.
Potential buyers were given an initial deadline of 17 May, and now those that are interested in pursuing a “minimum offer level” over £25,000 should make it by 1 June, Metis said.
Nat Baldwin, head of corporate Recovery at Metis, said: “The McEwens of Perth IP asset sale has attracted interest from parties both from the UK and overseas so the marketing process continues with best and final offers above a minimum offer level of £25,000 being invited by noon on Wednesday, 1st June.
“We believe that the IP assets, and particularly the McEwens of Perth brand, would offer considerable opportunities for a purchaser to stand out amongst its competitors by preserving the brand for business.”
The owners of McEwens of Perth, John and Lady Georgina Bullough, had said they had “left no stone unturned” to find a buyer or backer for the group and blamed the post-2008 credit crunch and the rise of the internet and out-of-town shopping for its demise.