HMV has been saved from administration by Canadian music retailer Sunrise Records.

The announcement comes just days after Sports Direct Boss Mike Ashley was rumoured to have put forward a bid that included a six month rent holiday.

Sunrise, which is owned by Doug Putman, will acquire 100 stores across the UK, securing the future of 1,487 store staff.

However, 27 unprofitable stores will close with immediate effect, resulting in 455 redundancies.

Music mogul Putman entered the race to buy the UK music and film retailer, which collapsed into administration just after Christmas, placing more than 2,200 jobs at risk.

His empire also took over 70 HMV store sites in Canada after the chain went bust there in early 2017.

Speaking today, Putman said: "We are delighted to acquire the most iconic music and entertainment business in the UK and add nearly 1,500 employees to our growing team.

"By catering to music and entertainment lovers, we are incredibly excited about the opportunity to engage customers with a diverse range of physical format content and replicate our success in Canada.

"We know the physical media business is here to stay and we greatly appreciate all the support from the suppliers, landlords, employees and, most importantly, our customers."

HMV was put into administration by Hilco, the restructuring firm that has owned the business since 2013, on 28 December last year.

It appointed insolvency experts from the accountancy firm KPMG as joint administrators, who were charged with either finding a buyer for the business or closing it down.

At the time, HMV said retailers of all types were facing “a tsunami of challenges”, festive trading had been “extremely weak” and sales of DVDs across the market had plunged by 30% on last year’s levels.

A fortnight later, it emerged that Ashley was considering a bid that could result in him adding the HMV brand to a retail empire that already includes Sports Direct and House of Fraser.

Today, Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: "We are pleased to confirm this sale which, after a complex process, secures the continued trading of the majority of the business.

"Our immediate concern is now to support those employees that have unfortunately been made redundant."

Neil Gostelow, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, added: "We are grateful for the support of all key stakeholders including the suppliers whose support throughout this process has been key in securing this sale."

KMPG said it’s currently consulting with all staff affected and will announce a full list of 27 closures today.

The likes of Poundworld, Toys’R’Us and Maplin all went bust last year amid brutal trading, while heavyweights Marks & Spencer and Debenhams announced plans to shutter hundreds of stores.

Several others – including Superdry, Carpetright and Card Factory – have all issued profit warnings.

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