The upmarket shoe retailer Kurt Geiger and Endless, the turnaround firm which owns Bathstore, are among a pack of suitors circling Jones Bootmaker as the footwear chain hovers on the brink of administration.
Sky News has learnt that the two prospective bidders are in discussions with advisers to Jones Bootmaker's owners about a rescue deal that could preserve hundreds of jobs.
It emerged earlier this week that Alteri Investors, which has owned Jones for two years, had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators - a move that gives it breathing space from creditors until next week.
However, doubts persist about how many of the 1100 jobs at Jones would be saved after any deal, with Kurt Geiger's prospective bid predicated upon salvaging the Jones brand but not its high street shops.
Endless, which has successfully backed companies such as Crown Paints and was among the bidders last year for parts of Tata Steel's UK operations, is said to have lodged a bid for Jones ahead of a deadline on Monday.
The sale process, being run by the accelerated mergers and acquisitions team at KPMG, is also said to have attracted interest from several other parties.
Jones, which has been trading for more than 150 years, has been operating in an increasingly difficult high street environment.
Forthcoming increases in business rates, along with currency-related cost inflation and new Government taxes have hurt chains in every part of the retail sector.
Retail Week reported last week that one of Jones' creditors had filed a winding-up petition against the company.
The Jones brand is sold in just over 100 standalone stores and concessions.
Insiders believe that any rescue deal will initially involve Jones being put through a process called a pre-pack administration - used last week by a venture of the sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley to acquire Agent Provocateur.
Alteri bought Jones Bootmaker - alongside the Brantano brand in 2015, and then repurchased the latter's UK operations after putting them through an insolvency process.
An Alteri spokesman could not be reached for comment, while Endless and Kurt Geiger's owner, Cinven, both declined to comment.
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