Homebase is to open six garden centres in Next stores as it cashes in on a home improvement boom that has attracted several potential suitors.
Hugh Osmond, the former owner of PizzaExpress and the founder of Punch Taverns, is preparing a £300 million bid for the DIY chain, reports at the weekend suggested.
Shoppers at Next fashion and homeware stores in Shoreham, Ipswich, Warrington, Camberley, Bristol and Sheffield will be able to buy plants, pots and gardening tools from Homebase in a trial partnership.
Damian McGloughlin, chief executive of Homebase, said that the launch of the new garden centres “means we’re able to offer more gardeners . . . Homebase products in more locations across the country”.
Homebase, founded in 1979, has about 150 stores employing more than 5,600 people in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. DIY stores have been among the biggest retail winners of the lockdowns as people turn to home improvements. Hilco Capital, the private equity group, bought Homebase for £1 in 2018 after a troubled period under the ownership of Wesfarmers, the Australian group. Homebase completed a company voluntary arrangement, a controversial insolvency process, to shut stores and cut more than 1,500 jobs, and has since returned to profitability.
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In November last year, after a period of strong sales, Hilco hired investment bankers at Lazard to sell Homebase.
A potential bid from Osmond is expected to be made through Osmond Capital, his private investment vehicle, with support from Sun Capital, his private equity firm, and external finance. Hilco is said to have received interest from other bidders and has considered a listing, Sky News reported.
Homebase said: “We’re looking at a number of options to further accelerate our growth plans and this process is still ongoing.”
Homebase has pledged to “show its belief in the future of Britain’s high street” by opening more small-format stores in Walton-on-Thames, Guildford, Cheadle, in Greater Manchester, and Sutton, in south London.
