JJB buys Qube for £1

Qube will complement JJB's OSC chain

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JJB Sports has bought footwear chain Qube from Sir Tom Hunter's private equity fund for £1, as predicted by Drapers (May 2).

JJB will integrate the 22 store Qube chain into its existing footwear business Original Shoe Co.

Qube made a pre-tax loss of £6.1 million for the year ended January 31 2007.

JJB chief executive Chris Ronnie said: "The acquisition of Qube is a further step in our strategy of accessing the sports lifestyle market whilst maintaining our strategy of being "Serious about Sport" within our core JJB retail stores. Qube is a rapidly growing business, with excellent potential, which we believe will complement our recent acquisition of OSC and reinforce our presence in this area of the market."

Brian McCluskey, managing director of Qube said: "We see this as a natural progression for Qube and under JJB expect the business to continue its steep growth curve. The synergies afforded there will undoubtedly enable the business to grow in a cost-efficient manner."

A spokesman for Sir Tom Hunter's West Coast Capital private equity partnership added: "This continues the rationalisation of our portfolio; however we remain committed to the retail and property sectors for the long-term. This is the right deal for this business going forward."

Qube's warehousing will remain in Dundonald in Scotland for the forseeable future.