Topps Tiles acquires CTD brand and assets out of administration for £9m

FTSE-listed Topps Tiles has acquired CTD Tiles out of administration for £9m as it looks to enter the housebuilding segment. 

The purchase included CTD Tiles’ brands, 30 stores, selected stock and customer data, Topps said. 

CTD, which supplied tiles to the retail, trade and commercial markets, entered administration on 19 August after a wider downturn in the sector led to a slump in profit of around 30 per cent.

Prior to entering administration, CTD operated 86 stores across the UK and had a total store revenue of around £50m. 

The stores acquired by Topps accounted for just over a third of CTD’s revenue. The remaining stores will be disposed of through administration, Topps said.

Topps said that the acquired stores and other assets will “continue to trade under the CTD brand name” and will give Topps the “opportunity to make a meaningful entry into the housebuilder segment.”

The group has seen sales slump recently as customers shy away from big-ticket DIY items.

Rob Parker, Topps Group chief executive, said: “The CTD brand and assets are an excellent fit with our existing business and the Acquisition creates a new and complementary specialist tile business within the Topps Group.

“CTD operates a different model to our existing Topps Tiles retail stores, with separate trade and retail offers within each unit and a number of market-specific sub-brands which are differentiated from our existing offer.

“The acquisition of 30 high quality stores and selected supporting infrastructure, together with the intellectual property and customer data required to service CTD’s existing commercial customers in the housebuilding and A&D [architecture and design] markets, provide us with an opportunity to make material progress towards our Mission 365 sales goal.

“We are excited about the future of CTD within the Topps Group and look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to the business.”