(Sharecast News) - Modella Capital, the British private equity firm that snapped up the high street business of WH Smith last June, is working on plans to shutter "scores" of shops, according to media reports on Monday.
Sky News reported that Modella, which also owns Hobbycraft, is in early-stage talks would could result in a formal restructuring plan "within months".
According to the blog of City editor Mark Kleinman, Modella has been lining up advisers for weeks to work on a plan that could close a "significant minority" of stores under the rebranded TG Jones name.
"That would be likely to entail job losses running to hundreds of staff," Kleinman wrote.
Meanwhile, The Telegraph reported that Teneo has been appointed as the company's adviser, with 80 of the remaining 480 stores at risk of closure.
"Scores more" could also be at risk if the PE firm cannot secure improved rent deals with landlords, The Telegraph said.