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Kesa, Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) 's third-biggest electrical goods retailer, has agreed to sell its loss-making electrical chain Comet for just £2.

The buyer is a group of companies under the name Hailey Holdings Ltd, advised by retail turnaround firm, OpCapita LLP.

Comet, which has 248 stores and 10,000 employees in the UK, has been up for sale since the summer.

Kesa said it will invest £50m in Hailey, the shareholder of the purchaser, and take on the firm's pension scheme.

Comet saw a 18.6% fall in like-for-like sales in the first half of 2011, mainly due to a big drop in the sales of TVs (Taiwan OTC: 8264.TWO - news) and large appliances.

Kesa said that group revenue fell 7.6% over the same period, and that Comet is expected to make a loss of £22.3m in the six months to October 31.

Comet managing director Bob Darke said: "We are encouraged by today's announcement and, with shareholder approval, absolutely committed to a smooth handover.

"For our customers and our people, it is business as usual and we are 100% focused on delivering a successful peak trading period and great business performance into 2012 and beyond."

The retail giant had already announced plans to shut one of Comet's three warehouses, axe 12 of its 14 regional service centres and close nine underperforming stores as part of a cost-cutting drive.

But a spokesman for OpCapita said there are no plans to make any further store closures beyond those already announced by Kesa.

Earlier this week, the US electrical retailer Best Buy (Dusseldorf: BUY.DU - news) announced it is pulling out of the UK and closing its 11 retail outlets her, putting 1,100 jobs at risk.