Home Retail Group

Last updated

Home Retail Group plc
Predecessor Argos Retail Group (ARG)
Founded10 October 2006;18 years ago (2006-10-10)
Defunct2 September 2016;8 years ago (2016-09-02)
FateAcquired by and folded into Sainsbury's
Brands Alba
Bush
Chad Valley
Challenge
Cookworks
Habitat
Heart of House
Hygena
Schreiber
Sovereign
Subsidiaries Argos
Homebase (divested)
Home Store + More (divested)

Home Retail Group plc was a British retail company established on 10 October 2006, following the spin-off of Argos Retail Group (ARG) from GUS plc. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Contents

The group primarily comprised two retailers: Argos and Homebase, as well as in-house brands such as Chad Valley and Habitat. In April 2007, the group bought a stake in the Irish 'Home Store + More' chain and established its UK business, closing this in 2012 and selling their stake in 2013. [1]

In February 2016. Home Retail Group sold Homebase to Australian-based Wesfarmers. [2] In April 2016, it was announced that Home Retail Group would sell itself to British supermarket Sainsbury's for £1.4 billion. [3]

History

Predecessor as Argos Retail Group (2000–2006)

GUS plc acquired Argos in April 1998, and combined it with its mail order business to form Argos Retail Group (ARG) in June 2000. [4] It went on to acquire Homebase for £900 million in November 2002, bringing it into ARG. [5]

In June 2005, GUS bought thirty three stores of Index, which were subsequently converted to the format of Argos. [6]

Home Retail Group (2007–2016)

Argos Retail Group was renamed Home Retail Group, upon its demerger in July 2006 from GUS. [7] Shares in Home Retail Group were traded on the London Stock Exchange as from 11 October 2006. [8]

In October 2007, Home Retail Group bought twenty seven stores from Focus DIY, and converted them to the format of Homebase. [9] In June 2011, the group bought the exclusive rights to the brand of Habitat, its brand designs and intellectual property in the United Kingdom and Ireland, along with three stores in London and its website. [10]

In November 2015, the group rejected a £1 billion takeover proposal from the supermarket company Sainsbury's, which it revealed on 5 January 2016. [11] On 18 January 2016, it was confirmed that Homebase would be sold to the Australian retailer Wesfarmers for £340 million, subject to shareholder approval. [12] The sale was completed on 27 February 2016. [13]

Takeover by Sainsbury's (2016)

Sainsbury's submitted a revised offer of £1.3 billion on 2 February 2016, with a deadline of 23 February to make a firm bid. [14] Steinhoff International submitted a rival bid of £1.4 billion on 19 February. [15] Steinhoff abandoned its bid on 18 March 2016, while Sainsbury's submitted a formal bid of £1.4 billion. [16] On 1 April 2016, the company agreed to a takeover offer from Sainsbury's. The deal was completed on 2 September 2016. [17]

Operations

Home Retail Group's businesses Argos and Habitat operated in over eight hundred stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The group had a 49% holding in a multi-channel general merchandise retail business in China, called HH Retail Limited, with Haier Group, one of the world's leading home appliance manufacturers, holding the remaining 51%. [18] The group sold its 33% shareholding in Ogalas Limited (which trades as 'home store + more' in the Republic of Ireland) on 8 March 2013. [19]

Home Retail Group owned a number of well known brands, including Alba, Bush, Chad Valley, Habitat, Hygena, Schreiber, Challenge, Sovereign, Cookworks and Heart of House. [20]

Financial performance

All figures below are for the Group's financial years, which ran for fifty two or fifty three week periods to end of February/beginning of March. [21]

Under the terms of the agreement with Sainsbury's to acquire Home Retail Group, for each Home Retail Group share, shareholders received 0.321 new Sainsbury’s shares and 55p per share. As a result of the sale of Homebase, they also received 25p per share, plus the year's dividend as a final dividend payment. [22]

52/53 weeks endedTurnover
(£m)		Profit/(loss) (£m)Basic earnings
per share
(p)
before tax
27 February 20165,668.094.7(808)2.8
28 February 20155,710.493.871.69.4
1 March 20145,663.071.254.06.8
2 March 20135,475.4130.194.011.7
3 March 20125,582.8104.172.89.1
26 February 20115,851.9265.2190.923.1
27 February 20106,022.7293.0209.824.3
28 February 20095,897.4(394.2)(413.1)(47.7)
1 March 20085,984.8426.0294.634.0

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morrisons</span> British supermarket chain

Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, and one in Gibraltar. The company is headquartered in Bradford, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sainsbury's</span> British supermarket chain

J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Very Group</span> Online retailer

The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the Speke area of the city of Liverpool, England. The brand was established in November 2005 as a result of the merger of the former Littlewoods and Shop Direct companies. The retailer was known as Littlewoods Shop Direct Group until a corporate rebranding to Shop Direct Group in May 2008. In 2013, the company rebranded to Shop Direct, dropping the 'group' from its name. Shop Direct rebranded themselves to The Very Group in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Home Stores</span> Former British department store chain

British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, is an online store and formerly a British department store chain, primarily selling clothing and household items. In its later years, the company began to expand into furniture, electronics, entertainment, convenience groceries and fragrance and beauty products. BHS traded from 1928 to 2016; the brand was later licenced to an online retailer.

Somerfield was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The business started life in the 19th century as grocers J. H. Mills, and after a series of buyouts and mergers, the company became known as Gateway. A major rebranding to the created Somerfield brand started in 1990, and in 1998 the company purchased the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by the Co-operative Group on 2 March 2009 in a £1.57 billion deal, creating the UK's fifth-largest food retailer. The Somerfield name was replaced by the Co-operative brand in a rolling programme of store conversions ending in summer 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GUS (retailer)</span> Former British retail, manufacturing and finance conglomerate

GUS plc was a FTSE 100 retailing, manufacturing and financial conglomerate based in the United Kingdom. GUS was an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's name before 2001, while it was also known as the Glorious Gussies amongst stockbrokers. The company started out as Universal Stores, a mail order business created by the Rose family. In 1931, Isaac Wolfson joined the mail order company and would, through a series of takeovers, turn it into a retail, manufacturing and financial conglomerate, becoming Europe's biggest mail order firm and with over 2,700 physical stores. His son, Leonard Wolfson, followed him as chairman, to be succeeded by his nephews David Wolfson (1996–2000) and Victor Barnett (2000–2002). During the 1980s, the business divested much of its physical retail and manufacturing subsidiaries under Leonard Wolfson to concentrate on mail order, property and finance. In October 2006, the company was split into two separate companies: Experian which continues to exist, and Home Retail Group which was bought by Sainsbury's in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Focus DIY</span> UK building materials store chain

Focus was a British do-it-yourself and home improvement retailer, founded in 1987.

HHGL Limited is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre chain trading in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded by British supermarket chain Sainsbury's and retailer GB-Inno-BM on 12 November 1979 as Sainsbury's Homebase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Valley (toy brand)</span> Games and toy manufacturer

Chad Valley is a long-established brand of toys in the United Kingdom owned by Sainsbury's.

Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware and garden centre chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argos (retailer)</span> British catalogue retailer

Argos Limited is a British retailer operating in the United Kingdom online and through catalogues, and formerly in Ireland; it was acquired by Sainsbury's supermarket chain in 2016. It was established in November 1972 and is named after the Greek city of Argos. The company trades both through physical shops and online, with 29 million yearly shop customers, and nearly a billion online visitors per annum. It has also franchised overseas to countries such as China.

Habitat is a brand of household furnishings in the United Kingdom and the main homewares brand within the Sainsbury's group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesfarmers</span> Australian conglomerate

Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue of A$43.5 billion in the 2023 financial year, it is one of Australia's largest companies by revenue. Wesfarmers is also one of the largest private employers in Australia, with approximately 107,000 employees.

Texas Homecare was a chain of do it yourself (DIY) stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The firm operated from 1972 until 1999. The defunct brand is owned by Homebase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bush (brand)</span> British consumer electronics brand

Bush is a British consumer electronics brand owned by J Sainsbury plc (Sainsbury's), the parent company of the retailer Argos. The former Bush company is one of the most famous manufacturers of early British radios. The company is now defunct, but the Bush brand name survives as a private label brand for budget electronics. Today, all Bush are sold exclusively at Argos and Sainsbury's, with Argos having a wider selection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coles Group</span> Australian public company

Coles Group Limited is an Australian public company operating several retail chains. Its chief operations are primarily concerned with the sale of food and groceries through its flagship supermarket chain Coles Supermarkets, and the sale of liquor through its Coles Liquor outlets. Since its foundation in Collingwood, Victoria in 1914, Coles has grown to become the second-largest retailer in Australia after its principal rival, Woolworths, in terms of revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hygena</span> British fitted kitchen and furniture brand

Hygena is a dormant brand of fitted kitchen and furniture in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilco Capital</span> British company that specialises in restructuring and refinancing other companies

Hilco Capital is a British financial investment and restructuring advisory company, operating in the UK, Western Europe, Canada and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alba (brand)</span> British electronics company defuncted in 2022

Alba was a British consumer electronics brand used for budget electronics.

Schreiber was a brand of fitted kitchen and furniture operating in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. ↑ "HRG to close HomeStore & More". www.diyweek.net. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  2. ↑ "Homebase bought by Australia's Wesfarmers for £340m". BBC News. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "Sainsbury's wins battle to buy Argos". BBC News. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  4. ↑ "Our story". Home Retail Group. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "GUS snaps up Homebase". BBC News. 21 November 2002. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Anticipated acquisition by GUS plc of part of the Index Business of Littlewoods Ltd Archived 2013-09-27 at the Wayback Machine OFT
  7. ↑ "GUS reveals demerger plans". Investors Chronicle. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Welcome". London Stock Exchange. 11 October 2006. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011.
  9. ↑ Completed acquisition by Home Retail Group plc of 27 leasehold properties from Focus (DIY) Ltd Archived 2013-09-27 at the Wayback Machine OFT
  10. ↑ "Habitat stores enter administration as part of sale". BBC News. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "Sainsbury's bid approach for Argos owner Home Retail rejected". BBC News. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  12. ↑ Homebase bought by Australia's Wesfarmers for £340m, BBC News, 18 January 2016, retrieved 21 February 2016
  13. ↑ Neilan, Catherine (29 February 2016). "Homebase to be rebranded Bunnings after Wesfarmers completes £340m acquisition from Home Retail Group - now what's happening with Argos?". City A.M. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  14. ↑ Johnston, Chris (2 February 2016). "Sainsbury's to 'future-proof' with £1.3bn Argos deal". BBC News. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  15. ↑ Armstrong, Ashley; Marlow, Ben; Williams, Christopher (20 February 2016). "Sainsbury's bid for Argos hangs in balance amid threat of competition probe". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  16. ↑ "Sainsbury's bids for Argos owner Home Retail Group". BBC News. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "Sainsbury's acquisition of Argos parent company now complete". Retail Gazette. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  18. ↑ Haier Elec (HKG:1169) invests US$15M in JV with Home Retail Archived 2013-04-14 at archive.today Chinese Stock Information, 19 October 2011
  19. ↑ Commission clears acquisition of Ogalas by Home Retail and Durinicum Practical Law, 2007
  20. ↑ "Our brands". Home Retail Group. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  21. ↑ "Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Home Retail Group. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "Annual Report and Financial Statements 2016" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.