"The business is trading incredibly well, costs are down, like-for-like sales are up," Rob Templeman, Halfords’ executive chairman told the Financial Times.
Templeman was formerly chief executive of Homebase, a DIY retailer which was bought and sold on quickly. Templeman is a get-in-quick-get-out-quick-with-profits sort of exec, and was probably appointed by CVC for this reason.
In the FT interview, Templeman does not hide the fact CVC would be happy with a quick exit:
"As we build value the exit opportunities become clearer – [Halfords] is an incredibly cash generative business," he said.
Yes, and especially in a market trading healthily, unlike previous years. The question industry insiders are asking is whether any long-term harm has been done to the Halfords ‘brand’ by the constant price-slashing offers, and the arm-twisting suppliers had to go through earlier in the year.
Here are the FT articles:
http://search.ft.com/…/article.html?id=030909000684&query=halfords&vsc_appId=totalSearch&state=Form
http://search.ft.com/…/article.html?id=030909000712&query=halfords&vsc_appId=totalSearch&state=Form
