Media reports have named two potential bidders vying to snap up collapsed fashion brands Cue and Veronika Maine, after the parent business collapsed into voluntary administration.
According to the Australian Financial Review, Justin Levis, son of Cue founder Rod Levis, is one of them, with the masthead adding that the former executive director has secured several financial backers to fund his potential purchase.
Meanwhile, Larry Kestelman’s Brand Collective business has also tabled a bid for the two brands. That comes after Brand Collective – the company that owns the likes of Elka Collective and Review, while also managing global brands such as Superdry and Reebok under license – acquired Glue Store, The DOM and Running Bare.
Ragtrader reached out to Justin Levis and Brand Collective for comment. Sale processes like these tend to be heavily controlled by non-disclosure agreements.
The AFR story also reported on notes from the first meeting of creditors, filed with ASIC, which show Cue & Co owed about $55 million to various parties.
This included $1.4 million to the ATO, $29 million to Hilco and $6.2 million to Scentre Group – the owner of Westfield shopping centres.
All this comes after Cue & Co collapsed into voluntary administration last month. Kate Warwick and Vaughan Strawbridge of FTI Consulting in Australia were appointed as receivers and managers, while Duncan Clubb and Shaun Mckinnon of BDO were appointed as voluntary administrators.
A few days after the collapse, the receivers decided to close four Cue stores and one Veronika Maine store. The closures put Cue & Co’s total store network to 46, down from 51 when it fell into administration. Of these, nine are outlet stores.
Both brands are still continuing to trade as going concerns amid the sale process. FTI Consulting had reported they were seeing “good initial interest” from potential buyers in the sale process last month, highlighting the strong brand recognition and positive sentiment for Cue and Veronika Maine. Expressions of interest were anticipated in early October.