Brexit blamed for collapse of £3bn Shop Direct sale

Post-Brexit uncertainty has been blamed for the collapse of the £3bn sale of Liverpool-based online retailer Shop Direct.

Shop Direct, owned by Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph moguls the Barclay Brothers, runs Littlewoods.com and Very.co.uk from its headquarter at Speke.

A statement from the company said: “At the start of the year the shareholders of Shop Direct decided to review a number of options for the business including a possible partial or full sale. At no point did the shareholders commit to a transaction, and retaining the business was always an explicit option given its significant growth potential.

“In recent weeks it has become clear that the appetite of potential bidders has begun to change due to uncertainty created in the post-election UK environment so the shareholders have decided not to pursue discussions further at this stage.

“Shop Direct continues to outperform the market delivering double-digit profit growth for the year ended 30 June 2017 and this strong trajectory is expected to continue.”