Private equity firm blocked from regaining V&D ownership

Current V&D owner Sun Capital will not be allowed to bid on the bankrupt retail chain and La Place. The bankruptcy administrators invited more than 10 interested parties to make an official bid and the private equity firm is not among them, Dutch newspaper AD reports based on information from people involved. Last week the V&D works council wrote a letter to the bankruptcy administrators asking that Sun Capital not be allowed to be involved in the future of V&D. They blame the firm for V&D's bankruptcy. It seems that the administrators agreed to their request. The current candidates to buy V&D and La Place include a number of international private equity funds with a significant retail profile in their activities, according to the newspaper. Bankruptcy administrators Kees van de Meent and Hanneke de Coninck-Smolders refused to reveal names for the time being, but did state that they received some 70 suggestions for candidate-buyers and invited more than 10 of them to make an official bid in the coming weeks.