Hilco, the restructuring expert, is expected to sign an agreement on Friday morning to acquire around 130 HMV-branded stores and nine outlets that trade under the Fopp brand, reports The Telegraph.
In a further boost to the high street chain, music companies and film studios are believed to have agreed new supply terms with HMV and are backing the deal. They are desperate for the 92-year-old retailer to survive because it provides a high street presence for the entertainment industries and a rival to Amazon, Apple and UK supermarkets.
HMV’s landlords are also understood to be supportive, Sky News reported.
Hilco, which successfully turned around HMV’s Canadian business after buying it in 2011, also plans to return the company to Ireland by opening a store in Dublin. The retailer’s 16 outlets in the country were closed three months ago.
Hilco has been touted as the likely buyer of HMV ever since the chain appointed Deloitte as administrator at the end of January.
Originally brought in to oversee the business alongside Deloitte, Hilco bought HMV’s debts just days later.
The chain will now be run by a combination of incumbent HMV and newly-appointed Hilco executives.
When the company collapsed into administration, it had 223 UK sites and employed 4,123 staff.
Documents from Deloitte show that the music chain owed £347m of debts when it failed. The loss includes £237m owed to unsecured creditors, which Deloitte has already said will go unpaid.
Accounts for the six months to October 27 show that HMV made a pre-tax loss of £37.3m on sales of £286.6m.
