Homebase sold to owner of HMV for nominal sum of £1

Struggling hardware chain Homebase has been sold to retail turnaround specialist Hilco Capital for the nominal sum of £1.

Homebase was put up for sale by its Australian owner earlier this year, just two years after completing a £340m takeover from Home Retail Group.

Sky News learnt on Thursday that Hilco had edged ahead of rivals after convincing management about its plan for Homebase, which is losing about £20m a month .

Australia's Wesfarmers said it expects to record a loss on the disposal of £200m to £230m.

It has been a disastrous foray into the UK market for Wesfarmers, which was hoping to use the purchase of Homebase to take on Britain's biggest DIY chain B&Q.

Wesfarmers was forced to write off £500m after ditching some of Homebase's popular products, taking its total losses on the acquisition to about £1bn.

Its initial acquisition coincided with a downturn in the UK retail sector, which has seen many high street names close stores.

Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott said: "The investment has been disappointing with the problems arising from poor execution post-acquisition being compounded by a deterioration in the macro environment and retail sector in the UK."

The sale to Hilco will be painful for an unknown number of Homebase's creditors and 11,500 workers, with store closures, an insolvency process called a company voluntary arrangement and disposals all among the potential options to be pursued.

Thousands of Homebase jobs are ultimately expected to go, despite the sale going through.

Hilco bought HMV, the music and entertainment products retailer, from administrators in 2013, and has revived the business, albeit with a reduced high street presence.

Its plans for Homebase are unclear, although the scale of its financial travails means a new owner will have to act swiftly to staunch the bleeding from one of the most disastrous takeovers in British retail history.

Under the terms of the agreement, Wesfarmers could recoup some of its losses should Homebase be sold on. It would be entitled 20% of any equity distribution from the business.

Hilco will acquire all Homebase assets including the brand, its store network, freehold property, property leases and stock.

A total of 24 stores that were trading as Bunnings will revert to Homebase branding.

Richard Lim, of Retail Economics, said: "The acquisition of Homebase has been an unbelievable disaster for Wesfarmers.

"Their attempts to disrupt the UK DIY market have failed after a series of woeful management decisions, clumsy execution and a misguided perception of the UK market.

"There's no doubt that the timing has been ill-fated as the sector faces incredibly tough headwinds.

"Against this backdrop, the business is bleeding cash and the owners have decided enough is enough. Unfortunately, the restructuring will almost inevitably lead to store closures and more job losses on the high street."

Wesfarmers hopes to complete the sale by 30 June.