using the 3 Guys brand in New Zealand, Ireland and the United States. 1990s In November 1994, Kwik Save acquired 117 supermarkets from Shoprite, a fellow food discounter, for £45 million. The company subsequently accepted that it was focused too much on acquisitions rather than its existing operations. It announced the closure of 107 underperforming shops in November 1996. Merger with Somerfield In February 1998, Kwik Save merged with Somerfield, and began operating as a trading division of Somerfield Stores Ltd. All Kwik Save shops were to be rebranded as Somerfield, but it was quickly realised that the look and feel of existing Kwik Save shops – featuring warehouse style wooden shelving, space saving small checkouts and narrow aisles – would not lend itself well to the Somerfield fascia. For this reason, the plan was abandoned and the best Kwik Save shops were converted, based on location and market demand, receiving a full refurbishment. Meanwhile Somerfield's own Food Giant discount supermarkets were rebranded as Kwik Save. Sale of shops to BTTF On 27 February 2006, Somerfield Stores Ltd sold the brand and the remaining 171 shops to BTTF, an investment vehicle headed by Paul Niklas, for an undisclosed sum. Somerfield rebranded the 102 Kwik Save locations it retained under its own name and a further 77 shops were sold to other retailers, including 19 to Netto. According to a report in PR Week in April 2006, Kwik Save hired a marketing agency in a bid to revitalise the brand and reposition it as an alternative to the leading supermarkets. Around £200,000 was allocated to public relations as part of a marketing brief worth £4m-£5m. In October 2006 a £30m refinancing package from unnamed investors was partly used to purchase a further 45 shops from Somerfield. Some of those were part of the Competition Commission investigation into Somerfield's purchase of 114 Safeway Compact shops in 2004. In December 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Kwik Save was suffering from a "sharp fall in sales and mounting losses", and was seeking another financial injection. On 22 January 2007, it was reported that Kwik Save was suffering problems over delays in payment to its major suppliers, with stocks of many core products being limited as a result. On 29 January 2007, it was reported that a new investor was about to inject £70 million into the Kwik Save business. In mid February 2007,