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Hilco has signed a deal that will see the restructuring firm take on around 141 HMV stores, nine Fopp outlets and around 2,500 employees.
The UK business will initially be led by a Hilco team who will work alongside existing management and the plan reportedly includes a return to Ireland, where the retailer was forced to close all of its 16 outlets earlier this year.
Hilco hopes to repeat the success that it has seen with HMV’s Canadian operations, which has seen vastly better fortunes than its British counterpart.
“This is an exciting investment for the Hilco team and we will be able to use some of the developments already progressed in Canada to restore HMV to health,” said Ian Topping, who will head up Hilco’s management team.
“We intend to reverse the earlier decisions to sell tablets and other devices in the stores and to reclaim the space for an enhanced music and visual range. The reaction of the British public to the administration of HMV shows a strong desire for the business to continue to trade and we hope to play a constructive part in delivering that.”
