High street music chain HMV has been rescued from collapse after 100 stores across the UK were acquired by Canadian music entrepreneur Doug Putman.
Putman, who owns Sunrise Records, beat rival bids from retail tycoon Mike Ashley and an HMV management team to secure the deal.
Following Putman’s purchase, 100 stores will continue to trade under the HMV name, safeguarding 1,487 store and head office jobs within the company.
The new owner of HMV, Doug Putman, says the high street music chain will stay in the UK for a "long time". 100 stores have been saved and will retain the name HMV, with a focus on vinyl #r4today https://t.co/Ha7EhcN6qH pic.twitter.com/i9V3UyChdK
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 5, 2019
However, 27 stores which were not acquired will close with immediate effect, resulting in 455 redundancies.
At the end of last year, HMV Retail filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators for the second time in just six years.
Speaking to MusicWeek about the deal, Putman 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.”
