[WillPS]

Interesting stuff. So reading those links and doing a bit of research.......

Frasers/Sportsdirect had a large minority shareholding in Ideal World. Last year they rescued an online retail company called Studio Group and they were using some facilities at their Peterborough HQ. internetretailing.net 
This will also explain why they've been selling more Sportsdirect products

Looks like on the 6th June there was a debenture between Sports Direct and Ideal World. 'A debenture is a loan agreement in writing between a borrower and a lender that is registered at Companies House. It gives the lender security over the borrower’s assets.' so AIUI Frasers lent IW money with IW assets as security. 

That sales brochure says they were after buyers for the company by 30th June. And according to this article (sorry, most of it pay walled) on 30th June Frasers took a much larger stake in IW
www.thefurnishingreport.com  

My guess is that IW got into trouble and Frasers (Sportsdirect) have stepped in to rescue it. They do a lot of that and recently have been building an online shopping empire: www.retailgazette.co.uk  

I suspect that the purchase on 30th June has put Frasers in control and they've paused trading while they work out what to do with IW - including what to do with the staff. With so many brands and online retailers in the group I wonder if it'll be remodelled into a TV showroom for their companies? 


The freehold of the Peterborough building is for sale, but as the brochure you posted says, Idela World has a lease on it until 2027. It says that's under offer so I wonder if Frasers are buying that too? Not that it would matter if they didn't, the sale of the freehold is seperate to the operation of the business based there

Frasers' usual trick is to build a big enough shareholding/loan facility that they can force the business in to administration and then purchase (or even lease) the bits they want immediately. It's called a pre-pack administration.