Deltic saved from administration by Scandinavian nightlife giant

The UK’s largest nightclub operator Deltic Group has been bought out of administration by Scandinavian firm Rekom UK for an undisclosed sum.

The deal saves 42 of Deltic’s 52 bars and clubs, which include the Prism and Oceana brands, and is expected to secure more than 1,300 jobs.

Current Deltic boss Peter Marks will remain as chief executive of the new organisation, which will merge with the wider Rekom Group once coronavirus restrictions on nightlife are lifted.

Rekom operates more than 130 bars and clubs in Denmark, Finland and Norway and has been backed by the Danish private equity firm CataCap since 2018.

A spokesperson for Deltic was unable to confirm which of its sites would be closing.

“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,” said Rekom CEO Adam Falbert.

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

Late-night businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic and Deltic has been unable to open any of its nightclubs since March. The company put itself up for sale in October in a bid to stay off bankruptcy.

“We were – through no fault of our own – put in a situation where I was watching our business fall apart,” said Marks.

“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.”

Prior to Covid-19 Deltic had a turnover of over £106m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization for the current year was forecast to be £12m. It employed around 3,000 employees at peak periods of the year and a further 1,000 contractors.

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