132 HMV stores saved as Hilco complete acquisition

Following yesterday’s news that a handful of HMV stores tipped to close will indeed stay open, restructuing specialists Hilco have announced they’ve completed the acquisition of the troubled music chain – saving 132 branches in the process.

Music Week confirm that 2,500 employees will keep their jobs, as the company looks to relaunch in the Republic of Ireland also.

Hilco’s CEO Paul McGowan, who will also become chairman of HMV, said of the news:

“We have spent a number of weeks negotiating revised terms with landlords and the key suppliers to the business, all of whom have been supportive of our plans to maintain an entertainment retailer on the High Street.

We hope to replicate some of the success we have had in the Canadian market with the HMV Canada business which we acquired almost two years ago and which is now trading strongly. The structural differences in the markets and the higher level of competition in the UK will prove additional challenges for the UK business but we believe it has a successful future ahead of it.”

Here’s the full list of saved stores:

• Aberdeen,
• Ayr,
• Banbury,
• Bangor (Wales),
• Basildon,
• Basingstoke,
• Bath,
• Belfast Donegall Arcade,
• Birmingham Bullring,
• Blackpool,
• Bluewater,
• Bournemouth,
• Bradford,
• Brighton Churchill,
• Bristol Broadmead,
• Bristol Cribbs,
• Bromley,
• Bury,
• Bury St Edmunds,
• Cambridge,
• Canary Wharf,
• Canterbury,
• Cardiff,
• Carlisle,
• Chelmsford,
• Cheltenham,
• Chester,
• Chichester,
• Colchester,
• Coventry,
• Crawley,
• Cwmbran,
• Darlington,
• Derby,
• Doncaster,
• Dundee,
• East Kilbride,
• Eastbourne,
• Edinburgh Fort Retail,
• Edinburgh Ocean Terminal,
• Edinburgh Princes Street,
• Exeter,
• Gateshead,
• Glasgow Argyle,
• Glasgow Buchanan,
• Glasgow Fort,
• Gloucester,
• Grimsby,
• Guernsey,
• Guildford,
• Hanley,
• Harlow,
• Harrogate,
• Hastings,
• Hatfield,
• Hereford,
• High Wycombe,
• Horsham,
• Hull,
• Inverness,
• Ipswich,
• Isle of Man,
• Isle of Wight,
• Islington,
• Jersey,
• Kettering,
• Kings Lynn,
• Kingston,
• Leamington Spa,
• Leeds Headrow,
• Leeds White Rose,
• Leicester,
• Lincoln,
• Liverpool One,
• Livingston,
• Llandudno,
• Maidstone,
• Manchester 90 Market Street,
• Manchester Trafford,
• Mansfield,
• Merry Hill,
• Middlesbrough,
• Milton Keynes,
• Newcastle,
• Newport (Wales),
• Northampton,
• Norwich Gentlemans Walk,
• Norwich Chapelfield,
• Nottingham Victoria,
• Nuneaton,
• Oxford,
• Oxford Circus,
• Peterborough Queensgate,
• Plymouth Drake Circus,
• Poole,
• Portsmouth Commercial Road,
• Portsmouth Gun Wharf Quay,
• Preston,
• Reading Oracle,
• Romford,
• Selfridges Oxford Street,
• Sheffield High Street,
• Sheffield Meadowhall,
• Shrewsbury,
• Solihull,
• Southampton,
• Southend Victoria,
• Southport,
• Speke Park,
• Staines,
• Stevenage,
• Stirling,
• Stockport,
• Stratford upon Avon,
• Stratford City Westfield,
• Sunderland,
• Sutton,
• Swansea,
• Taunton,
• Thanet,
• Thurrock,
• Truro,
• Tunbridge Wells,
• Uxbridge,
• Westfield London,
• Wimbledon,
• Winchester,
• Wolverhampton,
• Worcester,
• Worthing,
• Yeovil,
• York.

HMV originally went into administration back in January.