Modella Capital, the owners of Hobbycraft, and Alteri, which owns Bensons for Beds are the last two bidders in the talks to buy out WHSmith’s 500 High Street stores.
The number of interested parties has whittled down to just two, with Sky News reporting that a deal could be announced in April when WHSmith reports on its interim results.
If a deal does go ahead, it will most likely see the WHSmith brand disappear from the High Street. This would mark a watershed moment for the UK high street, which first saw the appearance of the name in 1792.
It was revealed in January that the retailer had been in talks for some time to sell the High Street arm and concentrate on its more lucrative worldwide Travel side of stores in airports, railways stations and hospitals.
