Buyer Bailes out Oddbins

ODDBINS, the loss-making wine retailer, has been sold to a consortium of investors.

Simon Baile, who runs small wine retailer Ex Cellar, bought the company's 158 stores in the UK and Ireland for an undisclosed sum from Castel Freres, one of France's biggest wine companies.

Castel paid £57 million for Oddbins in 2001 but has failed to generate a profit from the business and has lost out to rivals such as Majestic, leading to the closure of many of its stores.

Mr Baile and business partner Henry Young are thought to have picked it up for a fraction of the 2001 price, and Mr Baile admitted it would be "a challenge".

He added that after years of neglect the company was "tired and in need of some TLC".