|
The accounting firm KPMG has been named as the administrator and
intends to keep the business running while it seeks a potential
buyer, HMV said in a statement on Friday.
The retailer, one of Britain's best-known high street stores,
went into administration in 2013 before its rescue by
restructuring specialist Hilco, but it has since been hit by
competition from online rivals and music streaming services.
Sky News reported earlier that about 2,200 jobs were at risk if
HMV went into administration, adding that the company had been
in talks with leading names in the recorded music industry for
funding but that those discussions came to nothing.
HMV was opened on London's Oxford Street by English composer
Edward Elgar in 1921 and made famous by the image of the 'dog
and trumpet'.
"During the key Christmas trading period the market for DVDs
fell by over 30 percent compared to the previous year and,
whilst HMV performed considerably better than that, such a
deterioration in a key sector of the market is unsustainable,"
said Paul McGowan, Executive Chairman of HMV and its owner Hilco
Capital, which paid around 50 million pounds ($63.47 million)
for the group in 2013.
Britain's retailers had been hoping Christmas would revive
spending after a year for much of the sector that has seen a
string of store groups go out of business or close shops.
Weakening consumer spending, uncertainty over Britain's exit
from the European Union, rising labor costs and higher business
property taxes, has spread gloom across the retail industry.
In the years running up to its first rescue in 2013, HMV
struggled to hold its own against supermarkets and online
services in sales of CDs, DVDs and video games.
More recently, traditional players in the music industry have
been hit by the growing popularity of online streaming services
such as Spotify <SPOT.N> and Apple Music <AAPL.O>, which this
year became the recording industry's single biggest revenue
source.
HMV, which had a hand in the Beatles' big break in the 1960s,
recommending the group's demo record to publishers, had around
230 stores and over 4,000 staff before it went into
administration in 2013. It currently has 125 stores around
Britain and employs 2,025 people.
(The story refiles to fix typo in headline.)
(Reporting by Samantha Machado in Bengaluru; Editing by Louise
Heavens)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
