Italian furniture group Poltronesofà is to buy sofa and flooring retailer ScS as it enters the UK for the first time. The deal values the Sunderland-based sofa retailer at £99.4 million.

Poltronesofà said the move will form the next step in its pan-European expansion and will enable it to enter the UK sofa market.

Renzo Ricci, chief executive of Poltronesofà, added: “Poltronesofà believes it is strategically very well placed to support ScS in the next stage of its development, and by building on the combined industry knowledge and experience and providing the necessary capital to accelerate ScS’s ambitions, the acquisition will help ScS realise its full growth potential.”

ScS said its directors intend to unanimously recommend that its shareholders vote in favour of the takeover. The retailer currently trades from 100 stores under the ScS brand and has recently acquired the Snug sofa brand.

Established in Reggio Emilia in 1995, Poltronesofà has 167 stores in Italy, 106 in France and a further 27 across Belgium, Switzerland, Cyprus and Malta.

Alan Smith, non-executive chair of ScS, said: “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 longterm success in the UK.”