Oddbins buys time for rescue deal

Wine retailer Oddbins has applied to go into administration in a tactical move to buy it more time as it seeks to secure the future of the business.

The struggling off-licence, which recently shut nearly 40 stores, wants to restructure its debts through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) - an alternative to administration - but needs the backing of 75% of creditors at a meeting on March 31 for the rescue deal to go through.

Oddbins said it had put in the administration application to protect it from creditor claims in the run up to the meeting after it received a winding-up order from creditor British Gas.

A Oddbins spokeswoman said: "This is purely a precautionary measure to allow the CVA to take place."

She added the move would allow Oddbins a "moratorium over any claims of 10 days, after which the results for the CVA vote will be known".

The voting results for the CVA, which has been put together by Deloitte, will be released on April 4.

The move reflects a tough period for the UK's independent wine trade, which saw Threshers owner First Quench Retailing collapse in 2009 and the Unwins chain fold in 2005.

Oddbins is under pressure amid competition from the dominant supermarket chains and falling consumer confidence.

It is also involved in a long-running legal spat with the group's previous owner, French drinks group Castel Freres.

Simon Baile, whose father ran the company in the 1970s, took control of Oddbins in 2008. In December the group launched Oddies, a new smaller store concept.