The owner of Beds.co.uk and furniture retailer Cox & Cox has swooped to buy Victoria Plum, one of the UK’s best-known bathroom sellers.
Sky News understands that AHK Designs acquired Victoria Plum late on Friday evening.
The brand had been put up for sale by Endless, the investment firm which had owned it since 2019.
City sources said the deal had been implemented through a pre-pack administration, with all of Victoria Plum’s workforce of more than 300 people transferring to the new owner.
Inflation in global freight costs and pressure on consumer spending had impacted profitability and cashflow in recent months, according to people close to the business.
AHK Designs, whose affiliate, Giomani Designs, owns a number of other e-commerce retailers, is said by insiders to have paid several million pounds for it.
EY, the accountancy firm, handled the sale and pre-pack.
Endless had recently injected £3m of working capital into the company to support it during the auction process.
The Leeds-based investor had acquired the company from TPG, the US-based private equity firm which took a significant haircut on the original £200m purchase price.
Neither AHK nor Endless could be reached for comment.