Online retailer Very Group plots launch of £2bn auction

The owner of The Very Group, one of Britain's biggest online shopping platforms, is to launch a £2bn auction of the company just months after taking control.

Sky News has learnt that Carlyle, the American private equity giant, is lining up Barclays and JP Morgan to handle a sale of Very, which sells a wide range of fashion, toys and electrical goods. An auction is expected to kick off shortly and will come after a series of earlier sale plans drawn up under the ownership of the financially troubled Barclay family were put on hold.

Money latest: New parking rule announced by government The proposal to launch an "immediate" sale process was disclosed in a filing at Companies House by administrators to VGL Holdco, a corporate entity which now has no connection to Very's operations. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was appointed to oversee the insolvency of VGL Holdco in November, enabling Carlyle - a long-standing creditor - to take control for the token sum of £1.

Very, which boasts annual revenue of more than £2bn and is chaired by Nadhim Zahawi, the former Conservative chancellor, is expected to report strong sales next week for the Christmas and Black Friday period. The change of control last autumn brought to an end more than 20 years of Barclay family involvement with the business, which was known as Littlewoods when it last changed hands in 2002 in a £750m deal.

Nasdaq-listed Carlyle had injected several hundred million pounds into Very Group's capital structure, initially to support it through the Covid pandemic in 2021. This support, which included a further £85m from Carlyle in 2024, paved the way for it to take ownership control under the terms of the financing.

In documents filed at Companies House this week, PwC said an M&A process would be "run on a basis and timescale consistent with what would be expected for a business the size of the operating group". One insider said Carlyle's ownership had always been intended to be on a transitional basis, with an onward sale timed to maximise value for all stakeholders.

IMI, the Abu Dhabi-based media group which had also been part of efforts to take control of The Daily Telegraph from the Barclays, is also a lender to Very. Previously known as Shop Direct, Very Group employs thousands of people, and sells general merchandise under the Very and Littlewoods brands, encompassing electrical goods, homewares, fashion and toys.

It has 4.4 million customers and operates a major consumer finance business to help shoppers manage their payments. Last year, the company also borrowed £600m from Arini, a Mayfair-based fund, as it sought to stave off a cash crunch and buy itself breathing space.

Retail industry insiders believe the business is likely to be valued in the region of £2bn-£2.5bn - below the valuation which the Barclay family was holding out for in an auction which took place several years ago. People close to the situation refused to be drawn on the likely value of a sale, saying it would be determined by the level of interest from bidders.

Very's most recent quarterly figures showed flagship brand Very UK growing 3.7% year-on-year, while revenue from the group's Very Finance arm grew by 5.7% to £113m. The Barclays, who used to own London's Ritz hotel, have already lost control of other corporate assets including the Yodel parcel delivery service, as well as the Telegraph newspapers.

In recent weeks, the implosion of their business affairs appears to have accelerated after it was reported that HSBC, another long-standing lender to them, had filed bankruptcy petitions against senior members of the family. The Telegraph also reported that IMI had hired advisers to sell the Barclays' property assets to recoup some of the debt it was owed.

A spokesman for Very Group declined to comment..