Thin's branches bought by Ottakar's

Ottakar's, the UK's second largest specialist bookselling chain, has acquired the net assets of eight branches of troubled Scottish bookseller James Thin for £1.64m.

The stores, in Edinburgh (George Street), Inverness, Dumfries, Dundee, Aviemore, Fareham, Weston-super-Mare and Woking generated a turnover of £10.1m in the year to 26th January 2002, and will be rebranded as Ottakar's. The deal, financed by the Bank of Scotland, included three freeholds worth £900,000, of which two will be sold and one--Aviemore--leased back. No redundancies are expected. Ottakar's m.d. James Heneage emphasised his commitment to the eight shops' 141 staff, and said the acquisition would make Ottakar's "the dominant bookseller in Scotland". Thin's administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers announced the closure of three branches in Huddersfield, Perth and Ayr, for which no buyer had been found. The sale of Thin's 10 academic outlets and its small publisher Mercat Press are under negotiation. Two branches, Wimbledon and Gyle, will continue to trade as James Thin for the time being.