Gordon Brothers snaps up Clerys

The Boston-based investment firm Gordon Brothers is the new owner of iconic Dublin department store, Clerys, which went into receivership yesterday.

The future of the debt-laden privately-owned business had been speculated upon for months and, yesterday, Paul McCann and Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton were appointed joint receivers to the three companies which jointly own the store, at the invitation of their directors.

Those companies are Clery & Co (1941) plc, Denis Guiney Ltd and Yterrbium Ltd; which jointly own and operate the main Clerys department store.

In a short statement, the joint receivers said the famous O’Connell St store will continue to trade as normal, with no jobs — either the 147 Clerys workers or those employed by the store’s concessionaire partners — being affected.

Gordon Brothers says all the workers will transfer to the new company and the store will trade on a “business as usual” basis.

The Guiney family were reportedly talking with potential buyers for Clerys for a number of months, in a bid to save the business which has lost nearly €4m over the past two years and has outstanding debts of more than €20m owing to Bank of Ireland.

Gordon Brothers — which specialises in advising and investing in distressed businesses — had been speculated upon as a buyer for Clerys for the past month or so, with some reports already having claimed a deal was likely to be struck this week.

Additionally, a petition is due to be filed with the High Court, at the request of the directors, to appoint a liquidator to Guiney & Co Ltd — which trades as Guineys on Dublin’s Talbot St — and Denis Guiney Furnishings Ltd which operates two Clerys Home Furnishing stores in Leopardstown and Naas.

The directors of those companies have determined that these stores are “no longer economically viable” and have been closed. That move has resulted in 29 jobs being lost across the three stores.