GUS disposes of Wehkamp, its last remaining home shopping business

28 October 2005

GUS plc, the retail and business services group, today announces the disposal of Wehkamp, its last remaining home shopping business.

Wehkamp will be sold for about €390m (£265m) to Industri Kapital, a private equity firm. Completion is expected in December, subject to European Union regulatory approval. The cash proceeds receivable on completion will be used to pay down debt.

Wehkamp, the leading home shopping brand in Holland, generated sales of €326m (£222m) and operating profit of €33.0m (£22.5m) under IFRS in the year to 31 March 2005.

The net book value of assets at the date of completion will be approximately €340m (£230m). GUS therefore expects to realise a gain, after costs, of about €35m (£25m) on the transaction, which will be booked in the second half of the current financial year.

John Peace, Group Chief Executive of GUS, commented:

“This sale leaves Argos Retail Group focused solely on general merchandise retailing in the UK and Ireland. We believe that the transaction is in the best interests of GUS and of the customers and employees of Wehkamp and we wish them well for the future.”

Enquiries

GUS announcements are available on its website, www.gusplc.com.

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward looking statements.