Struggling Boosey sells music workshops

Paul McCartney (left) holds aloft his Hofner bass

Classical music icon Boosey & Hawkes has sold its instrument workshops, maker of instruments for orchestras worldwide, and the bass guitar used by Beatle Sir Paul McCartney.

A portfolio comprising brands including clarinet maker Buffet Crampon and Besson, manufacturer of tubas, trumpets and trombones for Britain's most famous brass bands, has been sold to a private equity firm.

We are acquiring an outstanding collection of brands at an attractive price,

Nick Morrill, Rutland Fund Management

The £33.2m sale ends a 17-month takeover saga as rival bidders circled the division, which employs 1,400 people in the UK, Germany, France, the US and India.

And it heralds the end of 240-year-old Boosey as an independent firm.

Bidders circle remnants

The company warned that, even after banking the sale proceeds, its debts would amount to £19.7m.

Boosey's remaining operations, including one of the world's foremost music publishers, have insufficient cash to last another year, a statement on Tuesday said.

"In mitigation of this position, the directors expect to be able to recommend an offer for the company before [31 December]."

Bidders for the publishing division, whose catalogue includes works by Elgar, Stravinsky, Britten, Bernstein, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, are believed to include EMI, venture capitalist Hg Capital, and US-based music sales.

The unit is valued at about £50m.

Quick profit

Rutland Fund Management, buyer of Boosey's instrument workshops, said the operations had "great potential".

"We are acquiring an outstanding collection of brands at an attractive price," Rutland spokesman Nick Morrill said.

The division in 2001 earned a pre-tax profit of £1.6m, on turnover of £71m.

Customers have included Sir Paul McCartney, who made famous the violin-shaped Hofner bass guitar.

Rutland's previous purchases have included Edinburgh Woollen Mill, the tartan to knitwear retail chain, bought in 2001 for £49m, and sold in November for £67.5m in a management buy-out.

A consortium backed by Rutland in January lost out in a bidding war for Crown Sports' health and fitness clubs.

Rise and fall

Boosey & Hawkes traces its roots back to the 1760s, when John Boosey founded music lending library in London.

The firm diversified into instrument making in the 1850s, expanding notably through the takeover of Besson in 1948, and Buffet Crampon in 1981.

But it faltered in 2000 when hundreds of instruments produced by its plant in Edgware, north London were discovered to have defects caused by a new soldering technique.

The same year, Boosey discovered a financial black hole at a Chicago-based subsidiary,

In 2001, Boosey sold its Edgware site for housing, and the lease to its flagship store in London's Regent Street.

Boosey shares, which topped 700p five years ago, closed on Tuesday at 147p, unchanged on the day.