Private investor Risk Capital Partners buys majority stake in bookstore chain

Private investor Risk Capital Partners has bought a majority stake in book and DVD retailer Borders UK and Ireland.

It has paid an initial £10 million, with a further deferred payment of £10 million to come.

The deal was led by Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson, who maintains that Borders UK and Ireland will be virtually debt-free and have a net worth of more than £75 million.

Johnson said: “These are mostly well-invested, new shops in excellent locations. 30 million customers visited the stores last year, with an average dwell time of an hour.”

Borders Group will retain a 17 per cent stake in the UK business.

David Roche will remain as chief executive of Borders UK and Ireland and will become a shareholder going forward.

Roche said: “I am delighted that, out of the options presented over the past months, this is the one that has the most potential to provide continuity of the Borders experience that we have all worked so hard to build since our launch in 1998.”

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