Deloitte, Woolworths’ administrator, has received dozens of inquiries from interested parties looking to buy the retailer, it said, with Dragons Den entrepreneur Theo Paphitis set to be among them.
Following a meeting with Deloitte on Friday, Paphitis said he would be interested in buying some more profitable branches of Woolworths, which was placed into administration last week.
The retailer’s largest shareholder, Ardeshir Naghshineh, is also believed to be considering a bid for the whole company.
Analysts said it is likely BBC Worldwide will buy the 40% stake that Woolworths has in the distribution outfit 2 Entertain.
Reports last week suggested that some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets, such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, want to buy some of Woolworths’ most successful stores.
