High-profile online retailers Confetti and Iwantoneofthose.com have been bought by the Hut Group for £600,000.
The two were sold by home shopping group Findel to Hut Group subsidiary Metro Holdings as part of a strategy to reduce its debts, which stood at £309.6m in April 2010.
Confetti is a leading UK wedding brand and provides an information resource about weddings while, offering a wedding planning service and selling wedding supplies online and through six shops. IWantOneofThose.com, whose catchline is “stuff you don’t need… but you really, really want,” is known as an online seller of gadgets, gifts, toys and games.
Together the two formed CWIO, previously Findel Direct, which reported pre-tax losses of £13.8m in the period ended April 2 2010. As of that date, its liabilities of £19.3m exceeded assets of £5.7m.
The deal follows Findel’s sale earlier in the year of the Webb Group, and is part of a strategy to sell its non-core and loss-making operations.
Findel will now focus on developing its core businesses in its three core divisions, which include home shopping through brands including Kleeneze, Express Gifts and Kitbag, as well as education and healthcare.
Picture: Confetti
