Tesco buys Handleman UK

11:21 | Wednesday July 30, 2008

The deal is expected to complete in the coming weeks, with Tesco likely to retain a majority of Handleman's UK-based employees.

Tesco is Handleman’s biggest customer in the UK: the distributor signed a deal in 2006 to support the supermarket in its in-house CD buying

Handleman announced at the start of June that it was exiting the music business in North America. It sold its music inventory, including assets related its Wal-Mart distribution business to Anderson Merchandisers of Amarillo, Texas.

Handleman president and CEO Albert Koch says, "We are continuing to make good progress in our efforts to complete the wind-down of our North American music business, operate our ongoing businesses, and explore opportunities to maximize the value of other assets and operations for the benefit of our stakeholders. We continue to explore how best to maximize the economic return to our shareholders."