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| Tesco sells Dobbies Garden Centres for £217m | Tesco sells Dobbies Garden Centres for £217m |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Tesco has sold its garden centre chain Dobbies for £217m to a group of investors led by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital. | Tesco has sold its garden centre chain Dobbies for £217m to a group of investors led by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital. |
| It comes a week after the supermarket chain announced the sale of UK restaurant chain Giraffe and its Turkish business Kipa. | It comes a week after the supermarket chain announced the sale of UK restaurant chain Giraffe and its Turkish business Kipa. |
| Tesco bought Dobbies in 2007 for £150m and it is now the UK's second largest gardening retailer. | Tesco bought Dobbies in 2007 for £150m and it is now the UK's second largest gardening retailer. |
| It operates 35 garden centres in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. | It operates 35 garden centres in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. |
| Tesco said that Dobbies made a £17m contribution to its annual profits last year. | |
| Core focus | |
| Tesco has embarked on an asset sale programme in recent months, disposing of what it considers to be non-core parts of its business. | Tesco has embarked on an asset sale programme in recent months, disposing of what it considers to be non-core parts of its business. |
| In addition to the recent sale of the Giraffe chain and Kipa, Tesco sold its South Korean business, Homeplus, last September for £4.2bn. | |
| The sales are part of attempts by Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis to revive the retail giant's fortunes. | |
| Announcing the sale of the garden centre business, Mr Lewis said: "Through their hard work and dedication to customers service Dobbies colleagues have built a great business and I would like to thank them for everything they have done. | |
| "It was a difficult decisions to sell the business but we believe this agreement will give Dobbies a bright future while allowing our UK retail business to focus on its core strengths." |