About 160 Mosaic Brands stores will close by the middle of next month, in a store consolidation program which will see the Katies brand wound down.

The receivers and managers of Mosaic Brands have announced a store consolidation program, which includes closing down the Katies brand and its 80 stores, along with an additional 80 stores across the Millers, Rivers, and Noni B brands.

The store closures will affect about 480 employees, with affected staff and landlords to be notified as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, voluntary administrator FTI Consulting has extended the deadline for binding offers to acquire the Mosaic Brands business until the end of December.

Interested parties started submitting non-binding indicative offers in November and those who have been short-listed are undertaking due diligence on the group.

In October, receivers and voluntary administrators were appointed to manage Mosaic Brands after the failure of recent internal attempts to restructure the company due to operational difficulties.