Portuguese investment group Green Swan has reached a deal to take over bankrupt Dutch high street staple Intertoys and will keep a large number of the shops open, the curators said on Friday.

Some 1,000 to 1,500 of the current workforce of 3,200 will keep their jobs but at least 91 of the total 286 stores will close their doors in mid May. They begin closing down sales this weekend.

A further 100 stores are run by franchisees and some of them will be given the option of taking over their stores directly, the curators said.

Intertoys went bust last month, three weeks after being given court protection from its creditors.

Paulo Andrez, the chief executive of Green Swan, said in the press release that the company will do ‘all it can’ to give Intertoys ‘which is so much a part of so many families’ a new lease of life.

In January, Green Swan bought the Maxi Toys group from Blokker Holding and in August 2018, it acquired the Spanish and Portuguese operations of Toys “R” Us.