WH Smith has agreed to sell its 233-year-old UK high street business to Modella Capital for around £76m.
Modella Capita, which owns Hobbycraft, pipped a number of bidders to the prize including Alteri Investors, the owner of Bensons for Beds.
The deal will transfer WH Smith’s 500 stores to the investor, with the high street division eventually rebranding to TGJones.
It means around 50 per cent of WH Smith’s operation is now international as the group increasingly looks to focus on its travel business.
Some 75 per cent of the retailer’s revenue and 85 per cent of profit comes from its travel operations, which span airports, hospitals and rail stations across 32 countries.
It generated £1.5bn in revenue in the financial year ended 31 August, with headline trading profits up 13 per cent to £189m.
Excluding the high street business, WH Smith’s proforma revenue growth would have been 10 per cent versus the reported seven per cent, it said on Friday. Profit growth would have been around 15 per cent.
“As we continue to deliver on our strategic ambition to become the leading global travel retailer, this is a pivotal moment for WHSmith as we become a business exclusively focused on Travel,” Carl Cowling, group chief executive, said in a statement.
“As our travel business has grown, our UK High Street business has become a much smaller part of the WHSmith group.
“High Street is a good business; it is profitable and cash generative with an experienced and high-performing management team.
“However, given our rapid international growth, now is the right time for a new owner to take the High Street business forward and for the WHSmith leadership team to focus exclusively on our Travel business.”
