Deltic bought out of administration by Nordic group Rekom UK

18-Dec-2020 - Last updated on 18-Dec-2020 at 10:34 GMT

Shuttered sites: Deltic venues have been closed since the first lockdown in March

Related tags Late-night bar operator Deltic Nightclub Finance

Late-night operator Deltic has been taken over by nightlife group Rekom UK for an undisclosed sum, bringing 42 of the group's 52 bar and club sites out of administration.

Deltic had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators and had been seeking a rescue deal after announcing its intention to sell in October.

Rekom UK is expected to merge with Rekom Group when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted from the night-time sector and keeping current Deltic CEO Peter Marks in this role as Rekom UK as the merge takes place.

Nordic-based Rekom Group operates more than 130 bars and clubs in Denmark, Finland and Norway and since 2018, has been backed by Danish private equity firm Catacap.

Huge potential

Rekom Group CEO Adam Falbert said: “We have been looking at the UK market for the past few years as part of our ambition to become one of the largest pan-European nightlife groups.

“When the opportunity came to take over a strong and well-run group like Deltic, it was a question of finding the right set-up to make it happen.

“We see huge potential in the UK market for late-night bars and clubs and are certain the industry will bounce back as soon as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.”

Rekom stated that Marks will stay on as CEO while a number of the management team will remain in their current roles.

Marks said: “When Rekom emerged to buy us out of administration I was really happy. We were – through no fault of our own – put in a situation where I was watching our business fall apart. It was having huge personal consequences for our many fantastic employees whom we have had to let go.

“With Rekom, we get an owner that knows the industry, who will reopen most of the venues we have had to close down and are ready to invest in developing our position in the UK. So, with that in mind it was an easy choice to say yes to become part of the future of Rekom.”

Bounce back

Rekom will take control of the 42 Deltic venues immediately however, due to coronavirus restrictions, all clubs will remain closed and the time will be spent integrating the former Deltic sites into the Rekom Group.

Falbert added: “We are aware that Covid-19 is still very much among us, and that the restrictions on our business will remain for some time to come.

“But we are optimistic that the vaccines already approved in the UK and hopefully soon to be followed in the rest of Europe will spell an end to the restrictions. I am certain that we will see the industry bounce back quickly when they are lifted. And not least, I’m certain that are our guests are eager to get out to have the time of their lives after being under lockdown for almost a year.”