Homebase is gearing up to appoint administrators, with The Range eyeing a deal to snap up some stores.

The DIY chain is expected to appoint Teneo to handle an insolvency process for its UK operation, consisting of around 130 stores, The Times reported.

Administrators are being lined up to handle a pre-pack sale of scores of Homebase stores amid hopes that a significant number of the company’s remaining jobs can be salvaged.

Sky News reports that The Range will buy up to 75 stores, including Homebase’s Irish shops, in a deal that is expected to take place today (13 November).

The deal will save close to 1,500 jobs but raise doubts about at least 1,700 more.

Hilco Capital, which bought Homebase for £1 back in 2018, drafted in Teneo this year to explore multiple cost-saving options after the retailer reported an £84m loss in the year to January 2023, from a profit of £30m the year prior.

Sales also plummeted from £788m to £701m during the period.

Back in August, managing director Damian McGloughlin wrote to suppliers to say the brand was trading “behind where we planned to be”. It said it would start an “active sale process” to find new investment.

In the same month, it was reported that Homebase was set to begin talks with potential investors, focused on driving the home and garden retailer’s new phase of growth.

Sainsbury’s snapped up 10 Homebase stores in a £130m deal earlier this year.

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