Hilco's £50m deal to rescue HMV saves 141 stores and 2,500 jobs

The £50m deal will save 2,500 jobs as well as 141 HMV stores and the nine Fopp shops and technology categories introduced by former management will be ditched.

HMV had 222 stores when it plunged into administration in January.

Hilco chief executive Paul McGowan said: “We have spent a number of weeks negotiating revised terms with landlords and the key suppliers to the business, all of whom have been supportive of our plans to maintain an entertainment retailer on the high street.”

“We hope to replicate some of the success we have had in the Canadian market with the HMV Canada business which we acquired almost two years ago and which is now trading strongly.

“The structural differences in the markets and the higher level of competition in the UK will prove additional challenges for the UK business but we believe it has a successful future ahead of it.”

Hilco has drafted in former Steinhoff UK boss Ian Topping to lead HMV alongside Hilco investment director Henry Foster, with the intention of re-establishing it as an entertainment specialist. McGowan will become chairman.

Topping said: “We will be able to use some of the developments already progressed in Canada to restore HMV to health. We intend to reverse the earlier decisions to sell tablets and other devices in the stores and to reclaim the space for an enhanced music and visual range.”

“The reaction of the British public to the administration of HMV shows a strong desire for the business to continue to trade and we hope to play a constructive part in delivering that.”

Hilco is also in negotiations with landlords “with a view to re-establishing an HMV business in the Republic of Ireland”. The Irish division was earlier shut by receivers.

Deloitte joint administrator Nick Edwards said: “The sale of the restructured portfolio secures the employment of 2,643 staff, saves one of the world’s most iconic retail brands and provides a solid financial footing on which the business can be taken forward.”