Sandpiper's plans to take over Randalls collapsed

The Channel Islands' largest retailer announced in January that it would buy the entire share capital of The Guernsey Pub Company Ltd, which is the holding company of Randalls in Guernsey.

'The board of directors of the company regrets to announce that due to the effects of Covid-19 to date and the uncertainty surrounding its future effects, it has been unable to fulfil the conditions of the placing agreement required to achieve admission of the placing shares to the official list of The International Stock Exchange, which was the remaining condition to the sale and purchase agreement required to complete the acquisition of The Guernsey Pub Company Limited,' said Sandpiper in a statement.

It has told the vendors to terminate the sale and purchase agreement with effect from tomorrow, 1 April.

Sandpiper said it is closely monitoring the implications of the virus outbreak on the business of the company and its group.

'The measures implemented by both the States of Guernsey and the government of Jersey require the closure of all non-essential shops and place material restrictions on physical retail businesses.

'As a result, all of our clothing and home shops in Guernsey and Jersey are temporarily closed while the food stores remain open.'

It is continually evaluating and taking action to mitigate the effects of the lockdowns in the islands, it said, and is running various scenarios 'to assess the potential financial impact.

'The company will make further announcements if any material factors emerge that might affect investors’ interests.'