Owner of The Range and Wilko, CDS Superstores has acquired DIY retailer Homebase brand name, intellectual property and up to 70 stores, but 2,000 jobs are still at risk.

It follows Homebase going into administration, citing a decline in sales over the last three years due to worsening consumer confidence and available discretionary spend.

This was at the same time as a rise in costs and supply chain disruption.

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Despite a recent improvement in trading performance, it was not sufficient to prevent Homebase going into administration.

Gavin Park, Gavin Maher and Adele Macleod of Teneo Financial Advisory were appointed as joint administrators of HHGL Limited and Hampden Group Limited, which trade under the Homebase name.

At the date of appointment, Homebase employed around 3,600 staff across its head office and stores.

Immediately following the appointment, the joint administrators completed the sale to CDS Superstore, which is expected to secure up to circa 1,600 jobs.

The Homebase brand will continue to trade online and the acquired stores will trade as Homebase, until transferred to CDS when they will re-open as The Range.

It will see these stores offer the choice usually available in The Range, with the addition of garden, showroom and DIY categories.

Homebase had previously sold  11 UK stores to Sainsbury’s and exchanged on a further three.

The remaining 49 UK stores will continue to trade as normal, while the joint administrators continue active discussions with interested parties.

There will not be any immediate redundancies whilst the administrators assess the position of the companies.

Customer orders will still be fulfilled, as far as possible, and arrangements will be put in place to allow gift vouchers to be used.

CEO of Homebase Damian McGloughlin commented: “It has been an incredibly challenging three years for the home and garden improvement market.

“A decline in consumer confidence and spending following the pandemic has been exacerbated by the impact of persistent high inflation, global supply chain issues and unseasonable weather.

“Against this backdrop, we have taken many and wide-ranging actions to improve trading performance including restructuring the business and seeking fresh investment.

“These efforts have not been successful and today we have made the difficult decision to appoint administrators.

“My priority is and continues to be our team members, and I recognise that this news will be unsettling for them.

“The sale of up to 70 UK stores to CDS is expected to protect up to 1,600 jobs and the remaining 49 UK stores will continue to trade as normal while the administrators complete discussions with potential buyers.

“I want to thank our team members and supplier partners from the bottom of my heart for their hard work and commitment over many years.”

 Joint administrator Gavin Maher said: “We appreciate that this is a very difficult and uncertain time for all involved.

“The sale to CDS preserves the Homebase brand and secures a significant number of jobs and we hope to complete sales of additional stores over the coming weeks.

“The remainder of the stores will continue to trade whilst buyers are sought and we would encourage any party with an interest to get in touch.

“We thank Homebase’s team members and other stakeholders for their continued support.”

Group CEO of CDS Superstore Alex Simpkin said for experienced Homebase team members facing uncertainty, the company was committed to prioritising interviews for any vacant positions in The Range or Wilko brands.

He concluded: “Following the acquisition of the Wilko brand just over 12 months ago and successfully re-launching several trial stores, we’re now in a position to roll out a significant number of Wilko format stores, along with our existing The Range store opening programme, with intentions to more than double the store estate size over the next four to five years.

“Acquiring the Homebase brand enables CDS to access new customers and reach new communities.”