B&M has agreed to buy 51 stores from the collapsed discounter Wilko, as talks with the billionaire owner of HMV for a larger rescue deal hit a snag.

The Liverpool headquartered B&M said today it had secured a deal to buy the tranche of Wilko stores for £13m. B&M said in an update to investors: “The consideration is fully funded from existing cash reserves and the acquisition is not expected to be conditional on any regulatory clearances.”

Meanwhile, administrators are continuing negotiations with Doug Putman, the Canadian businessman who bought HMV out of administration in 2019.

It comes as a potential deal to rescue the entire business by a private equity firm, M2 Capital, collapsed last week after the company did not provide administrators at PwC with sufficient proof of funding.