LONDON (Reuters) -British retailer WH Smith is exploring possible strategic options for its UK business, including a sale, it said on Saturday after media reports.
The company was holding “secret talks” about selling its entire retail division, which has more than 500 stores, Sky News first reported on Saturday.
Responding to the reports, the group said: “WH Smith confirms it is exploring potential strategic options for this profitable and cash-generating part of the group, including a potential sale.”
The company said there was no certainty that any agreement would be reached and that it would provide updates on the process “when appropriate.”
WH Smith's retail division is part of the retailer's most profitable travel business, which has around 1,200 stores in 32 countries.
“Three quarters of the group's revenue and 85% of its commercial profits come from the travel business,” he said.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
