Going, going, gone: Harris and Hoole sale marks end of Tesco ambitions
First Giraffe, then Dobbies, now it's Harris and Hoole which Tesco has sold off in its efforts to get back to what it's good at (being a supermarket).
The sale marks the last of the major assets that are not part of its core retailing to go, and a curtailing of previous ambitions to expand beyond the supermarket sector.
Only its most lucrative asset, Dunnhumby, remains on the shelf.
Back on the shelf
Dunnhumby
A jewel in the crown for Tesco. A sale of the data business behind the hugely successful Clubcard loyalty scheme had expected to net Tesco some cash closer to the value of Homeplus. Interested parties ranged from WPP to private equity firms, but closer inspection on the particulars of its US business did not result in quite the offers Tesco expected.
Receipt: est £2bn
Bagged up
Lazada stake
The sale of part of it stake in ecommerce site Lazada netted the supermarket a sweet £90m from Alibaba to add to its working capital back in April.
Receipt: £90m
Homeplus
This is the biggie since drastic Dave took the helm, although, the South Korean retailer's billion pound price tag was still lower than expected when it finally went last September. It did the job of keeping investors reassured, however, on Lewis's decisive leadership and on those debt reduction efforts.
Receipt: £4.2bn
Homeplus UK
Homeplus in the UK was another story, although it was nowhere near as big. The chain was closed down, signalling a retreat from non-food retailing in the UK. This contributed to property writedowns for the supermarket, but also reduced some running costs.
Receipt: Unknown
Private jets
One of the first things to go, understandably, in Dave Lewis' kitchen sinking. The extravagant Gulfstream and Cessnas for top brass travel landed Tesco as much as £66m.
Receipt: est. £66m.
Blinkbox
It could have been the UK's very own Netflix. Perhaps. Once a sign of Tesco's forward tech thinking, this turned out to be a bit of a disaster, with the expansion into music streaming and ebooks eventually leaving it with losses.
Receipt: est. £10m – £20m loss
Dobbies
The latest part of the business weeded out by Tesco was its string of garden centres, which are largely across Scotland. It was bought under Sir Terry Leahy's leadership back in 2007 for around £155m – but Tesco managed to turn a profit, selling it to Midlothian Capital Partners for a cool £217m.
Receipt: £217m
Giraffe
The restaurant chain has now been sent to the bagging area, sold to British restauranteur Ranjit Singh Boparan, of Harry Ramsden's fame, for an undisclosed sum – although Lewis is thought to have sold it at a slight write-down to the £49m Tesco bought it for in 2013.
Receipt: Unknown
Kipa
At the same time Giraffe was sold, Tesco confirmed the sale of its Turkish chain of food stores, bought in 2003. The supermarkets were sold to Turkish rival Migros for "a couple of hundred million", according to reports.
Receipt: Unknown
Harris and Hoole
Everyone thought coffee shop chain Harris and Hoole had been off the table after Tesco snapped up the remaining 51 pc stake it didn't already own in February. But it's now been bagged up and off-loaded to Caffe Nero for an undisclosed sum, marking the end of the road in Tesco's non-core asset sale.
Receipt: Unknown