RM offloads Isis Concepts to complete the great sell-off

Furniture firm sold back to founder at a £2.5m loss

After more than seven months of disposals, embattled system builder RM has completed the sale of its unwanted assets with the divestiture of furniture maker Isis Concepts.

The firm has been sold back to its founder and managing director and Nick Topliss in a £205,000 cash deal. RM will also provide a loan of £850,000, secured against Isis' property and other assets, to help Topliss in the short term with the running of the loss-making business. RM bought Isis for £2.7m three years ago.

The deal marks the fifth disposal since RM announced the completion of a strategic review in September. The system builder's US hardware business was sold off in October, and Asia-Pacific operations wire divested in December. The Lego-based Dacta business was next out the exit door just after the turn of the year, followed swiftly by the Easytrace cashless catering business.

RM's full-year trading update, issued in February, laid bare the firm's woes, with the pre-tax profit of £23.9m posted in FY10 turned into a loss of £23.4m for the 14 months to the end of November. Declines and disposals have seen the firm's revenue run rate fall about £100m from the FY10 figure of £380m.

However, RM has also hinted at its desire to get back on the acquisition trail in the not-too-distant future.