HMV in Liverpool ONE
Music retailer HMV is acquired by Canadian Doug Putman, Getintothis’ Peter Guy on how 100 of the chain’s high street shops are to be saved.
HMV has been acquired by Canadian vinyl lover, Doug Putman, owner of Sunrise Records.
Putman beat off rival bidders including Sports Direct‘s Mike Ashley, revealing he will keep 100 of the 127 shops open and maintain the HMV brand.
Putman and a HMV management team will now secure control of the chain from administrators KPMG.
The joint administrators of HMV have confirmed the sale of the businesses and assets to Sunrise Records & Entertainment Limited, whose shareholder is Doug Putman. (Ref: btc-handelsplattform)
It will keep 1,487 shop and head office employees and shops will continue to trade as HMV, with four continuing to trade as Fopp. Twenty-seven shops have not been acquired, and will be closed with immediate effect, resulting in 455 redundancies.
HMV was a place for open-minded obsessives – a view from the inside
Putman, CEO of Sunrise Records, said: “We are delighted to acquire the most iconic music and entertainment business in the UK and add nearly 1,500 employees to our growing team. By catering to music and entertainment lovers, we are incredibly excited about the opportunity to engage customers with a diverse range of physical format content, and replicate our success in Canada.
“We know the physical media business is here to stay and we greatly appreciate all the support from the suppliers, landlords, employees and most importantly our customers.”
Two years ago, Putman took control of around 80 HMV Canada shops, rebranding them to Sunrise Records, he insists however that this new takeover will see the UK shops maintain the HMV brand.
Getintothis editor Peter Guy on why HMV would be a huge loss for all music lovers
He added: “We’ve been able to come up with a great deal that allows 100 of the stores to continue on.
“We can confirm we are going to keep HMV, it’s just a fantastic heritage brand coming up shortly to the 100 year anniversary. It’s just so iconic, I feel really lucky to be able to say that we can continue to call it HMV.”
All the shops set to close are below:
Ayr
Bath
Bluewater
Bristol, Cribbs
Chichester
Exeter, Princesshay
Fopp, Bristol
Fopp, Glasgow Byres
Fopp, Manchester
Fopp, Oxford
Glasgow, Braehead
Guernsey
Hereford
Manchester, Trafford
Merry Hill
Oxford Street
Peterborough, Queensgate
Plymouth, Drake Circus
Reading
Sheffield, Meadowhall
Southport
Thurrock
Tunbridge
Uxbridge
Watford
Westfield
Wimbledon
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