Michaels Owner Bidding For UK Retailer HobbyCraft

March 17, 2010 By Nancy Nally 1 Comment

The UK craft trade magazine Craft Business is reporting that private equity group Blackstone, which along with Bain Capital purchased Michaels in 2006, is now bidding to purchase UK craft retailer HobbyCraft.

The company has been for sale since late last year. Competition for the purchase is fierce, attracting reportedly as many as 20 bidders.

HobbyCraft, founded in 1995, is the UK’s only dedicated craft chain store. It currently has 47 stores and plans to expand to 180.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Bain Capital, Blackstone, HobbyCraft, Michaels

About Nancy Nally

Nancy Nally is the founder & editor of Scrapbook Update and the owner of Balalaberry Media LLC. She's also the co-host of the popular Paperclipping Roundtable podcast, and the Modern Business columnist for Creative Retailer magazine. Her self-paced class "Pro Press Releases" is currently available from Big Picture Classes.

Comments

Serena says:

March 18, 2010 at 11:03 am

Brilliant , Brilliant, Brilliant news, hope they do.

Then we may get all the nice things you have in America, i.e cricut cartridges, accessories, etc, at a sensible price.

Also some of the products are usually only available in America, & it takes ages to get them over, plus your stung by the custom charges if you buy from the states.

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