Sports Direct's Mike Ashley faces competition from Canadian music mogul in race to buy HMV

A Canadian entrepreneur is reportedly set to pit himself against Sports Direct International PLC (LON:SPD) founder Mike Ashley in the race to buy collapsed music retail chain HMV.

Doug Putman, who runs the Canadian record retailer Sunrise Records, has emerged as a leading contender to buy HMV.

READ: Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley in talks to rescue collapsed music chain HMV

Sunrise Records previously bought about 70 HMV stores in Canada when the chain went bust there in 2017. The Canadian retail chain had just five stores when Putman took it over in 2014 and now boasts more than 80 outlets.

Putman has been president of Sunrise Resources since 2014 and his company has thrived on the renewed popularity of vinyl.

He has used Fleetwood Mac to describe his business model by saying most chains limit themselves to the band’s greatest hits collection and the 1977 classic Rumours but needed to offer customers more.

“Rather than having what I call the ‘basics’, we would offer Tusk [from 1979] and Tango in the Night [from 1987],” he told Spill Magazine last year.

“It takes it deeper and it gives the customer that assortment in the store.”

Last month, it was reported that Ashley had tabled a bid to HMV’s administrators at KPMG.

Ashley rescued struggling department store chain House of Fraser last August and has expressed interest in buying Debenhams.  

HMV collapsed for the second time in six years just after Christmas. Hilco rescued the business in 2013 when it was first put into administration. 

Story by ProactiveInvestors