Wedding-supplies business Confetti, which was sold by Findel to
The Hut Group in August and subsequently placed into
administration, has been acquired by north-west businessman
George Buchan for an undisclosed sum. In a statement, Buchan, who
has a background in IT services, said he plans to invest in
Confetti’s infrastructure as well as launch new products and
redesign elements of the website. The business will reopen the
site in October and will then trade purely online, its stores
having been closed down whilst in administration. Thirty-five
jobs have been saved and the business will continue to be run by
its current management team, including Kirsty Roe in marketing;
Lynn Duffy, sales; Steve Oldham, finance; Nicky King, buying;
Alex Leigh, operations, and Nicola Tibbs overseeing
ecommerce.
The business, which had been operating out of Findel’s offices
whilst in administration, is in the process of moving to new
premises.
Confetti is the latest in a recent spate of M&A activity. In
early September, books and stationery retailer WHSmith confirmed
it had acquired Gadgetshop.com from toy retailer The Entertainer.
In a letter to its suppliers, The Entertainer said the sale was
part of its “strategy to focus on core business” and
that proceeds of this sale would be reinvested in its new store
opening programme.
Also in September, and less than a fortnight after it acquired
running accessories retailer Runners Need, the management team of
sportswear retailer Snow + Rock completed a management buyout of
the business. The MBO, led by managing director Dion Taylor, was
backed by LGV Capital.
On 21st September, Flying Brands confirmed it had sold
collectibles business Benham to stamp specialist Stanley Gibbons
for £1.5 million. The proceeds of the sale, said Flying
Brands’ chief executive Stephen Cook in a statement, will go
towards strengthening the company’s core titles including
Gardening Direct and Flying Flowers.
Murray Kenneth, chief executive of Gramar Investments, believes
that “extremely poor availability of bank finance, low
interest rates and unattractiveness of the stock market means
there is cash for funding out there, but not through traditional
channels”. This, he says, is a catalyst for the recent rush
of acquisitions.
However, despite the sudden flurry, Peter Higgins, chairman of
Joe Browns and Cath Kidston, thinks activity will soon die down.
“Businesses being bought and sold now are either those
doing exceptionally well or those ‘going nowhere’. If you’re not
in either of those categories you’ve got no hope of
selling.”
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