Up to 100 MFI stores could close within days, despite the eleventh-hour management buyout of the struggling furniture retailer at the weekend.

Gary Favell, the chief executive, who is leading the buyout, has told landlords that their stores will be put into administration unless they agree to a three-month rent holiday from September 29 until Christmas Eve. In a letter seen by The Times, Mr Favell said that the rent holiday was the only viable option for MFI to continue as a going concern.

MFI filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators to its property unit yesterday. The property business holds the leases to all 194 MFI stores. A property consultant close to the process said he believed that only 92 stores would be retained by the management team. Such a move could lead to hundreds of job cuts.

Mr Favell wrote to landlords: “The only viable option for MFI to retain an ongoing business is for the landlords of the identified MBO [management buyout] stores to grant a three-month rent-free period.

“You will be aware that, unlike normal high street retailers, MFI relies heavily on the January sale, as this is when the majority of their customers purchase new kitchens etc.

“I am sure that you will appreciate that sales of these products are very slow in the run-up to Christmas and, accordingly, if we are to survive, we need your help through this period.”

He added: “In order to reach a position of certainty for the go-forward business, we need you to confirm, as set out below, that the rent for the above mentioned period is waived. Should you not sign this letter then the store will revert to the administrator, at which [time] it will be closed.”

Mr Favell announced plans to buy MFI from Merchant Equity Partners (MEP), the private equity consortium, on Sunday night. In a statement then he said that the deal secured the future of the MFI business and would safeguard employees in the store network, adding: “Fundamentally, it is business as usual for MFI, its employees and customers.”

MEP, which counts Goldman Sachs and Hilco, the retail restructuring expert, among its key shareholders, is understood to have paid the management buyout team a £25 million dowry to take MFI off its hands. MEP bought the furniture retailer for a nominal £1 two years ago and is thought to have invested £200 million in the business since then, including £65 million on a new distribution centre in Thorne, South Yorkshire.

An MFI spokesman declined to comment on possible store closures and redundancies. Privately, the company concedes that closures are inevitable but said that the exact numbers would depend on how many landlords agreed to the rent holiday.

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