JJB Sports heads for administration

Multichannel retailer JJB Sports today said it was headed for administration after failing to find a buyer for the company as a going concern.

The sports retailer today said that while it had had offers to buy its assets and brands since it put itself up for sale at the end of August, it had not received offers for the company itself.

The board has now decided that any sale of its assets will now take place through an administration process. It would therefore continue to trade its outlets, which include shops and a website, until going into administration ahead of any such sale. It proposed to call in adminstrators from KPMG for that administration and said it hoped to be in a position to announce the results in coming days.

In a statement released this morning, JJB Sports said: “It is expected that the process to commence the appointment of administrators of the company and certain of its subsidiaries will begin today although the actual appointments are only likely to take effect just before the completion of any such sale. The group will therefore continue to trade through all retail outlets outside of an administration pending completion of a sale process.”