Homebase has flown in the help of specialist consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as its owner edges closer to abandoning its troubled foray into the UK.
According to the Press Association the consultancy firm will advise chief executive Damian McGloughlin on which direction to take the ailing company as part of a wider review.
Following Wesfarmers’ £340 million acquisition of Homebase in 2016, it has been undergoing a large scale rebrand to Bunnings, which is very successful in its home country of Australia.
However, this interjection into the country has backfired spectacularly. Wesfarmers announced £584 million in write-downs earlier this year, alongside warnings that its half-year losses would nearly triple to £97 million.
Last week Wesfarmers flew in its chairman Michael Chaney in an attempt to establish where mistakes were being made.
Having flown in Lazard to help it sound out potential buyers Wesfarmers is looking increasingly likely to pull out of its failed project with numerous buyers including Hilco, Endless, Lion Capital and even discount retailer B&M reportedly considering bids.
A report from financial giant JP Morgan has suggested that Wesfarmers could save around £200 million if it sold the business, rather than attempting to ramp up investment and fix the problems in its current UK operations.
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2 Comments. Leave new
BCG, the archetypal watch borrowers. Things must be really bad!
Wesfarmers must have done no research at all. I can not believe they just waded in and thought their ideas would work in the UK.