So what will happen to it?
Here's a clue ...
United owner Mike Ashley was yesterday linked with a possible takeover of the UK’s biggest outdoor retailer after Blacks Leisure put itself up for sale in a last-ditch effort to save it from collapse.
Blacks, which owns 98 outlets and 208 Millets stores, warned that any sale of the company or its brands, which also include Peter Storm and Eurohike, was unlikely to offer value to shareholders as its £36m debt far exceeds its market value of £3.2m.
The group, which made a £16m loss in the first half of the year and recently warned that its full-year performance would be worse than expected, has been hit by low consumer confidence and squeezed household budgets.
The directors had hoped to secure funding for a turnaround of the business, which would have included a revamp of its stores, but its shareholders, which include Ashley’s Sport Direct, failed to put up the cash required.
Shares in Blacks fell 50% yesterday, reducing the company's value to just £1.3m. The stock has tumbled more than 95% since the start of the year.
Sports Direct is understood to have proposed a joint venture with Blacks to merge its warehousing and IT operations, which would help raise the funding Blacks requires for its strategic overhaul through cost savings.
Source: FOOTYMAD
