Oddbins: 37 shops sold

Thirty-seven Oddbins shops have been sold as a going concern to EFB (European Food Brokers) Ltd.

Deloitte, the consultancy firm administering Oddbins, has confirmed the sale but has not disclosed the price, which is believed to be in the region of £4m.

The Oddbins brand name has been sold separately

The list of shops includes 10 in Scotland, 20 in London and seven in the rest of England. The London shops incude prime locations such as West Dulwich, Chiswick, London Bridge, Blackheath, Twickenham, Clapham and Bayswater.

Raj Chatha, owner of EFB Group, said this would be a ‘new dawn for Oddbins’.

‘We are pleased to welcome Oddbins colleagues to the EFB Group and team…Our focus over the coming weeks and months will be to replenish the stores with an exciting range at competitive prices. I am also delighted with the number of jobs we have managed to save.’

EFB (European Food Brokers) Ltd, the parent company of drinks business EFB Retail Ltd, has been the leading contender for the deal for some days.

European Food Brokers Ltd, based in Walsall in the West Midlands, was established by Raj Chatha in 1991.

It is a veteran of buying up bankrupt drinks chains.

In October 2009 it bought 109 Booze Buster shops from the failed chain Wine Cellar, and in December 2009 it was unsuccessful in its bid to buy 200 Thresher shops from First Quench.

The drinks sector of EFB Ltd trades as Whitalls Wines Ltd and is based at Château Pleck in Walsall.

Full list of shops sold:

Scotland (10)

Aberdeen City

Rosemount, Aberdeen

Bruntsfield, Edinburgh

Queensferry Street, Edinburgh

Elm Row, Edinburgh

Charing Cross, Glasgow

Hyndland, Glasgow

Mitchell Street, Glasgow

Queens Park, Glasgow

Shawlands, Glasgow

London (20)

Balham

Bayswater

Blackheath

Chiswick

Clapham

Crouch End

Earls Court

Gloucester Road

Kennington

Kentish Town

London Bridge

Northcote Road

Pimlico

Portobello

St Margarets , Twickenham

South Kensington

West Dulwich

West End Lane, West Hampstead

Stoke Newington

Wandsworth

Rest of England (7)

Clifton

Poole

Chorlton, Manchester

Tunbridge Wells

Allerton Road, Liverpool

Oxford High Street

Little Clarendon St, Oxford

Written by Jim Budd