The Very Group owner reportedly eyeing two billion pound auction

Carlyle, the US parent company of The Very Group, is believed to be preparing to launch a two billion pound auction for the ailing British e-tailer just months after its acquisition.

Sources for Sky News have suggested that the American private equity firm is due to appoint Barclays and JP Morgan to oversee the sale of Very, which also owns Littlewoods, with an auction expected to kick off soon. It was noted by one source that Caryle’s acquisition of the e-tailer last year proceeded only on a transitional basis.

The proposal to launch a sale process was outlined in a filing with the UK’s Companies House by administrators of VGL Holdco. In the document, it was said that the process would “run on a basis and timescale consistent with what would be expected for a business the size of the operating group”.

As initially reported by Sky News, to which Very declined to comment, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was brought on to oversee the insolvency of VGL Holdco, formerly associated with Very, allowing Carlyle, with aid from Abu Dhabi-based firm IMI, to take over the company for a sum of one pound.

The shift in ownership ultimately saw Very’s former owner of 20 years, the Barclay family, step back from the business, in what was pitted as a “positive outcome” for the group that “strengthened [its] capital base and enhanced financial flexibility”.