Following weeks of uncertainty about the future Wilko, B&M has confirmed that it will buy 51 of the British homeware chain’s 400 stores.

PwC, which is serving as the faltering discount retailer’s administrator, said it had entered into an agreement with B&M European Value Retail with the “option to acquire” up to 51 properties.

The deal struck with the multinational, which owns discount retail chain B&M, is understood to be worth up to £13 million.

PwC is reportedly also in talks with other companies including Poundland and the Range to take over some of Wilko’s stores.

There have also been ongoing discussions between Wilko and Doug Putnam, who saved H&M and Toys R Us in Canada, to acquire around 300 stores out of the company’s estate portfolio. However, reports suggest that a deal has not been reached.

Sources told Sky News that Putnam’s offer to acquire around the Wilko stores is no longer on the table due to demand from key Wilko suppliers for upfront payment of outstanding debts to guarantee continuing to provide products.

Talks with Putnam are now underway for a revised offer to acquire around 200 stores, the sources added.

Wilko currently employs over 12,000 people, with PwC having confirmed that “some stores do not form part of any ongoing interest" with regards to the B&M deal.

“The administrators therefore sadly confirm the closure of 52 stores and redundancies of 1,016 staff based at these sites, and a further 299 redundancies at the two distribution centres in Worksop and Newport,” PwC said Tuesday.

The company added that the final day of trading for all affected stores would be 14 September.

Wilko filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators at the high court in August.

At the time, the company had already amended the terms of a £40 million credit facility it received at the start of the year to “bolster the availability of financing”.

In efforts to shore up its finances, Wilko also cut more than 400 jobs, sold its Nottinghamshire-based distribution centre to DHL for around £48 million, and set in motion plans to negotiate rent cuts across its store portfolio via a mechanism known as a company voluntary agreement (CVA).

Wilko is the largest retailer to have fallen into administration since convenience store chain McColl's last year. McColl's was eventually saved by Morrisons.

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