HMV shareholders vote for Waterstone’s sell-off
SHAREHOLDERS in HMV, the embattled music retailer, have voted in favour of the sale of Waterstone’s for £53m.
The vote was 99.5 per cent in favour of the disposal based on proxy votes received in advance of an extraordinary general meeting yesterday.
The final count, expected today, will confirm the sale of the book chain to Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut.
Mamut, who is best known in Britain as the backer of blogging site Livejournal.com, plans to refocus the chain as a more traditional bookstore.
The sale will allow HMV chief Simon Fox to focus on the group’s core music business, which has taken a battering from online competitors over recent years.
The ailing retailer has issued several profit warnings so far this year and has a debt pile of about £170m.
A sale of the book chain was first mooted in December last year, when Mamut increased the size of his stake in HMV above five per cent.
His bid for the retailer was also linked with Tim Waterstone, the founder of the chain, although the British entrepreneur did not ultimately return to play a role.