ScS sold to private equity firm

The furniture retailer's holding company was put into administration before the trading business was acquired by Parlour Product Holding, a wholly owned subsidiary of the European adviser to US private investment firm Sun Capital Partners.

ScS has been hit hard in the wake of the credit crunch, along with its big-ticket peers such as Land of Leather and Ilva Furniture. It has issued a string of profit warnings, most recently in May.

In a statement today, ScS did not disclose the value of the deal, but said it “involves the provision of considerable working capital to enable the ScS business to continue to trade in the ordinary course of business and to pay its creditors as and when they fall due”.

Mark Firmin and Richard Fleming of KPMG have been appointed as joint administrators.

Shareholders are unlikely to receive a dividend from the administration of the company, the retailer added, and the prospect of a dividend to the company’s unsecured creditors is “uncertain”. The retailer will be de-listed tomorrow at 8am.

ScS chairman Mike Browne said: “Given the difficulties created by the sudden withdrawal of credit insurance cover from suppliers to our retail sector, it became clear that urgent steps needed to be taken to address our increased working capital requirements.

“Having considered all options open to us, it was apparent that a substantial, long-term and immediate investment was required to secure the future of the ScS business.

“The sale of the ScS business to Parlour is expected to provide this necessary investment and to protect, therefore, the ScS business's employees, trade creditors and customers, as well as helping to secure the future of a number of its suppliers with workforces in the UK and continental Europe.”