Ailing clothing chain Peacocks’ fortune is oscillating like a pendulum. Last week we heard how a number of private equity firms including KKR, OpCapita and Sun European Partners showed interest in taking up the high street store but later chose against it.
Now the new rumoured business honcho who might yet smooth Peacock’s ruffled feathers is Pakistani textile tycoon Alshair Fiyaz. He is reportedly working with Danish investment fund Solstra Capital which is expected to submit a second-round bid for Peacocks tomorrow.
But who is Fiyaz?
He might not be very conspicous in the media (he’s not even on wikipedia) but he has his fingers in many pies.
Estimated to be worth around £3bn, Fiyaz is the founder of ALFI Investments, a buy-out company that eyes up lucrative financial and investment companies. In 2009, his company snapped up Magasin Du Nord, Denmark’s answer to Harrods, which was subsequently leased to Debenhams for 25 years.
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ALFI Investments also boasts a sizeable stake in UK-based stockbrokers Novum Securities.
Fiyaz is also known to have a soft spot for shipping. In 2007 his company acquired an 80 per cent stake in AIM listed ship owner Global Oceanic Carriers. After adding eight more vessels to the original portfolio, along with a ship management and a ship brokerage operation, Fiyaz sold the stake in November 2007.
And no, he might be Pakistani, but cricket is not his thing – he’s a polo patron instead. Fiyaz has 28-horses in his team, winning him accolades in the St Tropez goal challenge, the Ellerstina Polo Club, Argentina and the Farewell Cup in the UK.
So will Fiyaz come to the aid of Peacocks’ 563 stores and 7,500 jobs? Only time will tell.
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