DFS buys some stores and assets from collapsed Multiyork for £1.2m

DFS Furniture has bought some of the store leases, assets and intellectual property of collapsed retailer Multiyork Furniture, primarily for Sofa Workshop, for a total consideration of £1.2m.

The group has acquired eight store leases, with six stores intended to be converted to trade as Sofa Workshop, and two intended to be converted to DFS. As part of the deal, the members of the Multiyork retail teams at the eight transferred stores have been offered roles within the group.

DFS has also bought all intellectual property rights of Multiyork, including the Multiyork trademark, product designs, domain names and marketing databases.

Multiyork will continue to be traded by the administrators until 18 February, under a licence from DFS, at which point trading under the Multiyork brand will cease.

Sofa Workshop chief executive officer Gill Stewart said: "We are delighted to take this opportunity to expand our store network, offering customers a local presence where they can experience Sofa Workshop's exclusive range of modern, luxury, hand-made furniture. We very much look forward to welcoming the sales colleagues from Multiyork as part of our network of experienced store teams."

DFS CEO Ian Filby said: "We are pleased by this positive outcome, which offers a clear opportunity to accelerate our growth plans for Sofa Workshop, as it continues to go from strength to strength."

At 0840 GMT, the shares were up 0.4% to 199.25p.