Threshers Completes £200 Million Sale Leaseback of Retail Portfolio

Telegraph - April 27, 2007

Guy Hands' private equity house Terra Firma has raised £200m from the sale-and-leaseback of part of the property estate of off-licence chain Threshers.

It is understood that Terra Firma, which this week pulled out of the race to buy Alliance Boots, raised the money through a number of tranches of property sales earlier this year and late last year. But it is known that those sales have now come to an end and it is thought no further sell-offs are planned at the moment.

Terra Firma first invested in the Thresher Group in October 2000, buying it from Whitbread and Punch for £225m. Since then it has been reinvented somewhat, and has expanded organically and through site acquisitions, the most recent being the December 2005 purchase of 200 former Unwins stores.

Through its various retail brands - which include Wine Rack and Haddows in Scotland - the business owns 2,000 shops and employs more than 12,000 people.

It is not thought that the sale-and-leasebacks, masterminded by Threshers' property director Stephen Masters, are likely to lead to any form of corporate action involving a trade sale or a float. However, given the length of time Terra Firma has owned the business, nothing should be ruled out. Sphere: Related Content