Comet sold for £2

High street electrical retailer Comet has been sold by their owner Kesa Electricals for £2. Kesa have also had to pay a £50m lump sum to the buyers, private equity firm OpCapita, for Hailey Holdings Ltd, but Kesa will be continuing responsibility for Comet’s pension scheme.

The majority of Kesa’s business is in Europe with their electrical retailer Darty, but Comet’s losses, which were £9m last year on top of their annual renatl bill of £90m, have reached the point of risking the future of the whole group.

Comet has 248 stores in the UK and 10,000 employees, but has struggled within the tough electrical retailing sector for quite some time. The sector is suffering considerably with the reduction in consumer spending, particularly on major electrical goods.