More than 2000 jobs at electricals retailer, PowerHouse, have been saved after the company was sold to New Zealand-based Pacific Retail Group (PRG).

PRG has taken over 142 sites, a majority of the company's operating infrastructure and staff. It also intends to retain the PowerHouse brand.

The announcement comes a fortnight after PowerHouse - the UK's largest independent electrical retailer - called in the receivers, deciding immediately to close 93 of its 223 stores with the loss of 813 jobs.

At the time receivers Nick Dargan and Neville Kahn of Deloitte & Touche said they wanted to sell the company as a going concern.

In a statement yesterday Dargan said: "We are exceptionally pleased to have sold this business as a going concern, which was our prime objective, and to have preserved over 2,000 jobs. Most commentators believed a break-up of the business was the most likely scenario, which would have generated less value for creditors."

Publicly-listed PRG runs the largest appliance retail group in New Zealand trading under the brands Noel Leeming, Bond and Bond, Big Byte. ®

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