Facilities management firm Aramark is believed to be in the process of lining up a takeover bid for the Avoca retail chain, according to a report in The Sunday Times.
The company is just one of several interested parties potentially looking to buy the brand from the Pratt family.
Simon Pratt, the chief executive of Avoca, has said in previous interviews with the paper that it is “unlikely” the business would be passed onto the next generation, following the exit of his sister Amanda Pratt who until then ran the fashion and design part of the retail chain.
Currently, Avoca employs 800 people and boasts of annual revenues of €57 million, with profits of €1.5 million.
Aramark on the other hand, employs 4,000 people in Ireland in its food services branch. If the acquisition were to go ahead, it would be its first venture into food retail. It would also mark a return to retail for Frank Gleeson, former retail director at Topaz, who has headed Aramark's foodservice division for two years.
Currently Avoca has outlets in Belfast, Dublin city centre, Malahide, Rathcoole and Monkstown, along with Connemara, Moll’s Gap, Kilmacanogue and Mount Usher Gardens.
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Hannah Popham.
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