The broadliner beat off several management-backed bids to buy the troubled distributor’s goodwill, name and intellectual property rights.

The sale was conducted by Chantrey Vellacott, which was appointed as Unique’s management receiver in January as part of HM Revenue and Customs’ fraud probe into parent IGB.

David Hinc, commercial director at Unique, which turned over £556m last year, claimed management had been given just 40 minutes to table their offers after C2000 threatened to withdraw its bid.

“We are disappointed. Management and staff’s best endeavours to seal a management buyout deal were not to be,” he said.

David Ingram of Chantrey Vellacot confirmed he is seeking bidders for about £3m of remaining stock.