Abbeycrest undergoes pre-pack administration and MBO

Abbeycrest, the renowned jeweller has been placed into administration, but subsidiary company Brown & Newirth has already been saved in a management buyout (MBO).

The company had faced months of uncertainty over its future, closing its Leeds headquarters and trying to sell off its Thailand-based operations as attempts to create more funding, according to the Professional Jeweller publication. Those efforts could not ultimately save it, however, and John Malcolm Titley and Andrew Poxon of Leonard Curtis have been appointed to handle a pre-pack administration process.

Brown & Newirth, the brand’s specialist wedding ring division, has been bought out by management, supported by Manchester-based investment vehicle, Chrysus. Brown & Newirth sales director John Ball said that the deal had secured the jobs sustained by the division and that they would continue taking orders from retailers.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange on the situation, Abbeycrest said that they had undertaken extensive discussions with Chrysus and “it became evident that the only course of action available was for the board to place Abbeycrest into administration”.

Chrysus has acquired loans made to Abbeycrest by junior creditors, Moorgarth and Michael Lever. It has also made £780,000 of additional funding available to Abbeycrest, with £480,000 being spent on redeeming debt owed to Burdale Financial and £300,000 going as additional working capital for Brown and Newirth.

The administrators have said that a further announcement on the future of the Abbeycrest brand will be made in due course.

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