Retailer John Lewis is contemplating the sale of a stake in its enterprise after 73 years working as a staff-owned partnership, in a bid to fund the funding wanted to reverse its declining fortunes.

A supply conversant in the group’s technique confirmed that the choice of a sale of a minority stake within the prestigious high-street model was now on the desk, to inject new capital into its department shops and Waitrose supermarkets, which have collectively recorded annual losses in every of the previous two years.

“We’ve at all times stated we might search partnerships to assist fund our transformation and thrilling development plans,” John Lewis stated in an announcement, highlighting its offers with Ocado and Abrdn, which didn’t contain gross sales of fairness in its enterprise.

The Sunday Occasions first reported that the corporate was seeking to promote a stake price between £1bn and £2bn as a way to spend money on its struggling Waitrose shops in addition to construct its IT infrastructure.

“The enterprise expanded quickly between 2000 and 2015, going from 151 to 379 shops”, defined chair Dame Sharon White in a letter to companions in January. “We now have catch-up funding to make, and have the potential to modernise the enterprise at better tempo.”

In response to the information of a attainable stake sale, one former director of John Lewis instructed the FT: “They’re not searching for fairness to develop the enterprise; this can be a recapitalisation — they’ve mainly run out of cash and wish money.”

The ex-director added that the enterprise had acquired, and declined, approaches from non-public fairness within the early 2000s, in addition to an method from Amazon to purchase Waitrose in 2017.

“I do assume that Sharon inherited a enterprise in a lot worse form than anticipated”, the particular person stated. “That is demutualisation by one other identify. In the event that they didn’t have to do that, they wouldn’t.”

Any structural adjustments to John Lewis would require approval from the chair, board and the partnership council — a consultant physique with elected members from the John Lewis workforce.

However a supply conversant in John Lewis’s technique denied that any sale could be a “demutualisation” — whereby a worker-owned firm restructures right into a public firm with shareholders — and stated making investments into the enterprise was the “finest approach to defend the way forward for the partnership.”

Business insiders recommended the one buyers more likely to take a stake within the struggling retailer have been “long-term buyers”, equivalent to sovereign wealth funds.

“The Qataris [Qatari Investment Authority] purchased a stake in Sainsbury’s; I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s these kinds of individuals which might be ”, stated the previous John Lewis director.

The retailer has struggled in recent times to develop its gross sales and hold its value base down, with White saying “inflation has hit us like a hurricane” on a name with media final week.

That was after the partnership reported a pre-tax loss, together with property writedowns, of £234mn within the 12 months to January 28 — widening a £27mn loss from the earlier 12 months.

Gross sales fell 2 per cent to £12bn with these at grocery store Waitrose, which accounted for £7bn of the whole, down 3 per cent. The partnership bonus for workers was scrapped for less than the second time since 1953.

Response to the mooted adjustments by John Lewis from retail analysts and veterans was blended.

Neil Saunders, retail analyst at GlobalData Retail, referred to as the plan to promote a stake within the enterprise “half-baked” and “dangerous”. “It can trigger inner division and damage accomplice morale at a time when it’s already very low,” he stated.

“It additionally opens up the partnership to a level of outdoor management which, other than being in opposition to the founding rules, is more likely to drive poor short-term selections and will doubtlessly result in conflicts,” he added.

Retailing marketing consultant Nick Bubb, nonetheless, stated: “there’s a primary drawback which is that the enterprise is making no cash and, until it does that, it will probably’t present a bonus and might’t elevate cash to take a position cash in shops. Waitrose is starting to look a bit shabby in comparison with M&S. One thing clearly wants to alter.”