Argyll Partners' DWW Woolworth GmbH files for insolvency

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Argyll Partners-backed DWW Woolworths GmbH has filed for insolvency. The court appointed Ottmar Hermann as interim administrator for the retail chain. Argyll acquired DWW Woolworth GmbH at the end of 2007 from Electra Private Equity for an undisclosed amount. In a separate transaction, Cerberus acquired around 100 properties of the retail chain in a sale-and-lease-back agreement (January 2008, pages 36-37).

Electra Private Equity, then Electra Fleming, acquired Deutsche Woolworth in October 1998. The deal involved the acquisition for a DM950m consideration of Deutsche Woolworth from its ultimate US owner, Venator Group. Total funding, including elements of working capital and transaction costs, ran at around DM1.05bn (October 1998, pages 14-15).

Based in Frankfurt, DWW Woolworths was founded in 1926 and has 311 stores in Germany, employing about 9,700, of which the majority are part-time staff or temps. The retail chain made a EUR30m loss in 2005. The pre-tax turnover in 2006 was EUR917.8m.