Embattled rent-to-own retailer Perfect Home has been sold to Brixworth Investments, safeguarding nearly 300 jobs.
Last month the retailer put itself up for sale, drafting in Deloitte to handle the sales process, and was understood to have been valued at around £30 million.
Earlier this month Rob Harding and Phil Bowers of Deloitte were appointed as administrators to the retailer, which was subsequently purchased by Brixworth Investments, an affiliate of Elliott Advisors which owns the majority of the company’s debt.
“Over the last 18 months, we have fundamentally transformed our business,” chief executive Mike Sweetland said.
“We have moved from a bricks-and-mortar to an e-commerce model reflecting consumer preference for online retail which has impacted on the nation’s high streets.
“With new owners in place we have secured the long-term future of the business and saved 270 jobs.
“Together, we will continue to focus on growing the PerfectHome brand as a fully FCA-authorised online business.”
The FCA has gone on the offensive against the controversial rent-to-own sector in the last two years, and is seeking to further tighten regulations, which would also affect retailer BrightHouse.
Earlier this year Perfect Home was ordered to pay back £2.1 million to customers after it was found to have failed to properly assess its customers’ financial situations.
Rob Harding of Deloitte said: “PerfectHome’s management team made extensive efforts to operationally restructure the business from traditional stores to e-commerce.
“Unfortunately, it was suffering from unsupportable material legacy lease costs and a lack of available liquidity to drive new sales.
“We are delighted to have been able to structure a deal which preserves the long-term future of the online business and the associated employment, and enables fresh investment into its product offering to benefit its customer base.
“We wish its new owners, management team and staff every success in taking the business forward.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
