Bournemouth-based department store group Beales is said to be in talks concerning the reorganisation of its finances. According to reports by Mark Kleinman at Sky News, Beales could be nearing a deal which is thought to involving switching its banking business away from HSBC. PricewaterhouseCoopers is said to be advising Beales on the refinancing following a tough year of trading, which saw the retailer lose nearly £1 million in the half-year to April 2012.

Posted by Ava Szajna

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The world’s largest online retailer is thought to be considering a bid for Asos, as it looks to strengthen its presence in fashion retailer. According to sources cited by the Sunday Telegraph, Amazon looked through Asos’ books earlier this year, but are yet to confirm any negotiations.

Posted by Ava Szajna

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The UK’s largest book chain has revealed that it will partner up with Amazon to sell its Kindle e-reading devices as part of a growing consumer movement towards electronic books. The announcement came as a surprise to the retail sector, especially as Waterstones managing director James Daunt had become a fierce critic of the internet giant’s business, labelling it ‘utterly ruthless’ and a ‘dispiriting place to shop’.

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The private investment firm has submitted a renewed bid to acquire Game, the video game retailer that went into administration earlier this week, according to sources cited by Reuters. OpCapita, who earlier this year bought struggling electronics chain Comet from Kesa, is said to be interested in acquiring 333 of the Game stores that remain trading.

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The sports retail giant has dropped its plans to bid for Blacks Leisure Group, the leading operator in the outdoor market. Sports Direct, which already owns a 22.5 per cent stake in the troubled retailer, did not give a reason for withdrawing from the process. Earlier this week Blacks announced Sports Direct had expressed an interest in making a bid for the business.

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Blackstone and Catalyst Capital have bought the Houndshill Shopping Centre in Blackpool for £85 million from a subsidiary of Modus, Modus Corovest (Blackpool), which was in administration. The deal reflects a net yield of 7.4 per cent. A £55.25 million loan issued by Deutsche Pfandbriefbrank will fund the joint venture.

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Discount retail group Peacocks is considering the closure of up to 200 shops to safeguard the company’s future. The closures would strike around one in five of Peacock’s stores, and are being discussed as part of a broad restructuring plan aimed at safeguarding the company’s future, according to Sky’s Mark Kleinman.

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Founder and chief executive of Iceland Foods, Malcolm Walker, is said to have held talks with Matalan and DFS founders about providing backing for his £1.1 billion bid for the frozen food specialist. Walker, who along with fellow management controls a 23 per cent stake in the chain, is known to have held conversations with John Hargreaves, the founder of Matalan, and Lord Kirkham, of DFS, about supporting his potential bid for Landsbanki’s majority 77 per cent stake.

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Iceland Foods founder and chief executive Malcolm Walker has teamed up with Blackstone’s debt arm GSO, to help finance a bid for his supermarket chain. GSO is said to have committed more than £300 million of capital to the Iceland bid. In an economic climate where bank finance is scarce, GSO’s move is seen as “make or break” to ensure the success of any deal.

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Italian luxury suiting company Brioni is up for sale. The label, which is known the world-over for its razor sharp tailoring favoured by James Bond and Barack Obama is said to be talks with several apparel power houses including French luxury group PPR, Italian group Zegna and Eurazeo, a French private equity firm.

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