Furnishings retailer Dunelm has agreed to buy baby goods specialist Kiddicare in a push to boost its online offering.
The acquisition is part of an £8.5m rescue deal for UK online shopping group Worldstores.
It is the latest twist for Kiddicare, which was bought by supermarket chain Morrisons for £70m in 2011 before being sold for £2m just three years later.
Morrisons also took a hefty writedown on the online seller of cots, car seats, push chairs and nappies.
Kiddicare
was bought by Worldstores from private equity owners in 2014, where it
joined the group's portfolio of home and furniture websites.
Dunelm,
which started on a Leicester market stall in 1979 and now has more than
140 shops, said the deal for Worldstores would more than double the
size of its internet operation.
John Browett, chief executive of
Dunelm, said the group's "unique platform for next day delivery and
flash sales" would also strengthen Dunelm's position in UK homeware.
Worldstores
has annual revenue of about £100m and 650 employees, but is expected to
make losses of £5m to £10m this year, Dunelm said.
Dunelm expects
to acquire it later on Monday in a so-called "pre-pack deal", which
would see Worldstores briefly enter administration.
Fierce competition from online sellers and changes to the way people shop on the High Street are forcing retailers to adapt.
Also on Monday, sports fashion retailer JD Sports announced it was acquiring the Go Outdoors chain for £112m.
Go
Outdoors was founded in 1998 and has 58 stores. JD Sports is already in
the outdoor market, with its Blacks, Millets and Ultimate Outdoors
brands.
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