Beares is owned by Ellerine Holdings‚ the furniture unit of failed African Bank Investments Limited (Abil). Its stores will close following the approval of the business rescue plan for Ellerines this week.
Lewis was the only firm to make an offer for the viable Beares stores and the Competition Commission has recommended the conditional approval of the transaction.
It said on Wednesday, 12 November 2014, that without the transaction‚ all Beares stores would have closed. Lewis will take over 63 of the 184 stores. The stores were identified by the current management as being viable.
On Wednesday‚ at the hearing before the tribunal‚ Lewis CEO Johan Enslin said some of the lease agreements of the Beares stores now owned by Lewis still had to be ceded to Lewis by the landlords.
Lewis had initially expected that employees would not transfer to Lewis in instances where the lease agreements were not ceded and the shops had to close.
Enslin said Lewis had subsequently decided that the employees would be absorbed even if the agreements were not ceded.
But progress had been made with the lease agreements since Lewis was seen as a financially strong firm and Enslin said he did not foresee major obstacles in getting them across to Lewis.
Tribunal chairman Norman Manoim said on Wednesday it was sad to regard Ellerines as an orphan before the tribunal.
Source: BDpro via I-Net Bridge
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