British sofa seller ScS has agreed to be bought by Italian furniture retailer Poltronesofà in a £99.4m deal, reports Retail Gazette.

The news coincides with the furniture and floorings retailer announcing profits had plunged 63% over the year.

The chain, which has a store at Oswalds Retail Park in Gloucester, posted a pre-tax profit of £6m for the year to July 29, down from £16.4m reported last year.

It expects the acquisition, announced yesterday, to be completed in the first quarter of 2024, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval among other conditions.

ScS said management intends to unanimously recommend shareholders vote in favour of the takeover. If given the nod the company will be bought by Cerezzola Limited, also known as BidCo, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Poltronesofà.

ScS was established in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in 1894, as a family owned home furnishings store.

Today it has around 100 stores across England, Scotland and Wales, in addition to an online store.

Alan Smith, ScS non-executive chair, said: "This cash offer, which the ScS board unanimously recommends, comes at an attractive valuation. It recognises the quality of the ScS Group's operations, its cash resources, and the progress accomplished under Steve Carson's leadership via his refreshed strategy.

"Poltronesofà, based in Italy, is a pan-European sofa retailer that has been successfully pursuing international expansion and ScS, with UK operations, is the next juncture of that strategy.

"The ScS board believes Poltronesofà will bring significant benefits to ScS through its broad industry expertise in addition to providing the necessary capital that would accelerate our current strategy, albeit in a private rather than public sphere.

"The acquisition will enable ScS to continue as part of a broader, pan-European entity in pursuit of its strategy and position it for long-term success in the UK."