HMV administrators receive four offers to buy Fopp

However, Hilco also close to announcing deal that will see it 'cherry-pick' just a few of the cut price music stores

HMV administrators have reportedly received four offers to buy Fopp.

Deloitte, administrators for stricken high street music chain HMV who own the seven remaining Fopp stores in the UK, have declined to name the parties interested in buying the cut-price stores but they are believed to include trade buyers and private equity firms, reports the Guardian.

However, it is believed that Hilco, who owns HMV Canada and is the failed company’s largest creditor, is close to announcing a deal that will see it “cherry-pick” Fopp stores and the best locations from HMV’s 222 sites leftover following closure and the sale of six stores to Morrisons.

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Speaking about the interest in his former business, Fopp founder Gordon Montgomery, who runs Rise Music in Bristol, told the newspaper: “It is a great brand. If you look at the blogs everyone says HMV lost its way, but there are a lot of people who love Fopp.

“If you are off the pitch (high street) in music towns like Edinburgh, Manchester, Cambridge, Nottingham, Glasgow, you have to make yourself a destination. Fopp has a great reputation for selling music, with more left-field catalogue than HMV.”

The total number of job losses at HMV is now coming up to 1,500, and the number of stores marked for closure stands at 103. Last month administrators of HMV announced that an additional 37 stores will close, resulting in the loss of 464 jobs. These include all four Heathrow airport sites. Meanwhile, the retailer is being forced to shut all of its Irish branches – which will result in 300 jobs lost.

Additionally, it was reported that at the time of its collapse, HMV owed £20m in tax.

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