LONDON â€" The private equity firm Hilco Consumer Capital agreed on Friday to buy more than 140 stores of the British music retailer HMV as part of a rescue deal after the company went into bankruptcy earlier this year.
Hilco, which acquired HMV’s Canadian operations in 2011 for $3.3 million, will buy the music stores across the country for around £50 million ($76 million), according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The restructuring specialist had been the front-runner to snap up HMV and its well-known trademark of a dog next to a gramophone after Hilco bought the debt of the struggling British music retail chain HMV in January.
HMV had outstanding debt of around $280 million on Oct. 27, the latest figures available, but had struggled from reduced spending by British consumers who are facing an ongoing downturn in the local economy.
In January, the British music retailer entered administration, a form of bankruptcy, and appointed Deloitte to restructure the business.
Other British retailers, including the sporting goods chain JJB Sports and the camera retailer Jessops, also have entered bankruptcy in recent months because of sluggish economic growth.
On Thursday, the Bank of England, the country’s central bank, kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged despite concerns that the British economy is falling back into recession.
Last month, the country’s Office for Budget Responsibility halved its forecast for local economic growth to 0.6 percent for 2013 compared with a previous estimate of 1.2 percent.
