High street toy retailer Intertoys has been put up for sale four years after its current owners acquired it from Portuguese investment house Green Swan, the Financieele Dagblad reports.

Mirag Retail Goup, the successor to the Blokker family firm, hopes to raise €70 million from the sale of the 220 stores, around 70 of which are run as franchises.

CEO Michael Witteveen said he had decided to sell up after abandoning plans to list the company on the stock exchange earlier this year.

“I’m now 70 years old and we need to ensure there is continuity in the shareholder structure,” Witteveen told the FD.

Intertoys endured a turbulent few years after the Blokker family sold it to British investment firm Alteri in 2017.

Two years later the company went bust and was bought out by Green Swan. Alteri, which owned the property rights to Intertoys’ real estate, made around €40 million from the sale.

In September 2019 Mirage Toys Group bought the company back from the Portuguese. The Blokker family retained a 20% stake in Mirage, previously Blokker Holding, after selling it to Witteveen.

Like other non-essential retailers, Intertoys was hit by forced closures during the coronavirus pandemic and ran up a debt of €14.5 million in coronavirus support measures. Part of that amount has been paid off, Witteveen said.

The company’s profits have also been dented by increases in rent and wages for its 1,200 employees, with the minimum wage going up by 10% this year.