HMV's debt bought by 'restructuring specialist' Hilco

HMV's debt has been bought by 'restructuring specialist' Hilco.

Hilco bought the high street music retailer's debt from their lenders Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. The debt has to be purchased in order for any company to take full control of HMV, reports BBC News.

HMV owed £176 million, but because the company is in administration, Hilco would have paid less than this in making the first step to acquiring the business.

Hilco – who bought out HMV Canada in 2011 – confirmed in a statement that they hadn't yet bought the business: "Hilco UK confirms that it has acquired HMV's debt from the group's lenders. It has not bought the business itself."

They continued: "Hilco believes there to be a viable underlying HMV business and will now be working closely with Deloitte who, as administrators, are reviewing the business to determine future options."

From yesterday (January 22), HMV began accepting gift vouchers again.

Many customers were left angry after the company revealed they would not honour vouchers after it went into administration last week.

However, a new statement from Nick Edwards of administrators Deloitte promised that gift vouchers will be honoured.

The situation over vouchers saw tempers flare in one HMV store. Thames Valley police confirmed that they had been called to an incident at an HMV store in Oxford after a dispute over a gift card between two customers and staff.