What with Borders‘ recent announcement that it will shutter all of its UK-based shops, <em>the Scotsman reports that WHSmith has its eye on the airport shops even as he market awaits a bid from retail entrepreneur Tim Waterstone for the whole group. City analysts say that although the Office of Fair Trading would block any move for Borders outright from WH Smith, its airport shops are a licence to print money and chief executive Kate Swann will be interested. Nick Bubb, retail analyst at Pali International, said: “WH Smith will definitely be looking at part of it, especially the airport stores and possibly the out-of-town stores. I would be surprised if they are not trawling over it [Borders] this weekend.”
As for Waterstone, he’s in talks with Mothercare to sell his Early Learning Centre toy chain for an estimated 85 million pounds, which might then be used to try buying out Borders – or at least, try something along those lines, even if Seymour Pierce analyst Richard Ratner dismissed the notion as “wishful thinking”.