Court sanctions sale of certain Homebase assets to preferred bidder

High Court reporters

The High Court has approved the sale of “certain assets” of Homebase in Ireland to The Range, which has also moved in on many of the chain’s UK stores.

Ms Justice Miriam O’Regan was told that The Range (Ireland) Limited was one of three live bidders for two of the eight home improvement stores operated by HHGL (ROI) Limited, which is the company behind Homebase in this State.

The High Court appointed provisional liquidators to HHGL nearly two weeks ago just as administrators were being ushered into the UK Homebase company.

The UK administrators have said they completed a sale of the brand and up to 70 UK stores to the The Range, which is part of CDS Superstores (International) Limited.

On Monday, the Irish High Court heard the Irish provisional liquidators– Teneo Restructuring’s Damien Murran and Enda Lowry– have accepted an offer by The Range for certain assets subject to High Court approval.

HHGL’s lawyers said The Range’s bid was selected as it involves the fewest risks and is most likely to save the most jobs, with up to 115 of 178 potentially salvageable.

The court heard The Range’s offer relates to at least two of the company’s Irish stores– Sligo and Nutgrove in Dublin– and would preserve the 50 jobs there. A further 65 jobs could potentially be saved as a result of the potential acquisition of the leasehold interest in three other stores for which the UK company is the tenant, HHGL’s lawyers said.

The court heard The Range’s bid involves a non-refundable payment and is not conditional on consent from the store landlords and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

During the High Court motion on Monday, Ms Justice O’Regan was handed an envelope containing a “confidential” report from the provisional liquidators regarding the bids and value of the company’s assets, which she was told were “commercially sensitive”.

Lawyers for Revenue said the authority was not objecting to the proposed sale, keeping in mind the prospect of job retention and the greater likelihood of this deal being completed.

Ms Justice O’Regan said not every risk can be avoided but, considering the conditions attached to the other two bids and the upfront payment that accompanies the preferred offer, there is “more scope for comfort” that The Range’s bid will be finalised.

She sanctioned the sale of “certain assets” to The Range, which was incorporated under English and Welsh law but has a registered branch at Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin.