Past Times
Special Situations
Past Times
A trip into the past.
Deal Status: Current
Overview
Past Times is the leading UK retailer of historical and retro-themed gifts, with 100 stores and a busy ecommerce operation. At the time Past Times was part of Retail Variations plc and the group as a whole was experiencing difficulties due to cross-guarantees, onerous leases, excessive head office cost and loss-making sister companies.
In December 2005 EPE acquired the business through a pre-packaged administration for £7.75m, with asset backing of c.£7m of Christmas stock holdings and cash. EPE acquired the whole capital structure and added a £5m Lloyds overdraft facility.
Strategy
A new management team was installed (Mike Taylor, formerly of Budgens) and a restructuring plan was put into effect, reducing head office costs, closing loss-making international operations and reducing the store portfolio to its profitable core.
The restructuring plan has achieved a turnaround in profitability of £3.1m, from an EBITDA loss of (£2.7m) in the year ending April 2007 to a £0.4m profit for the year ending April 2009.
Link: www.pasttimes.com
