The Range, the value chain, has struck a deal to buy the Wilko brand from its collapsed rival’s administrators.
Sky News has learned that The Range, founded and owned by Chris Dawson, has agreed to pay around £5m for the Wilko name.
The deal is expected to be announced later on Wednesday.
It will be the latest in a series of transactions signed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), as more than 10,000 job losses are threatened at Wilko.
While 120 stores – more than a quarter of Wilko’s property – has been sold to B&M European Value Retail and Poundland’s ownerit is still unclear whether the staff working in these stores will be transferred to their new owners.
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The gloom surrounding Wilko’s workforce deepened after Doug Putman, the HMV owner, pulled out of a deal to save as many as 300 stores after his funding was cancelled.
Prior to the collapse of that transaction, PwC had already announced about 1,600 redundancies since the family-owned chain hit insolvency last month.
Wilko – owned by the founding Wilkinson family for decades – had been seeking outside investment for months, a search that became more urgent four weeks ago when PwC was formally appointed as administrator.
The chain was established by the Wilkinson family in 1930 and sells home goods and garden furniture at discounted prices.
PwC declined to comment, while The Range could not be reached for comment.