TV shopping retailer Ideal Shopping Direct (IDS) has bought a plant and garden equipment retail business for an initial £5m.

It has bought Lead The Good Life (LTGL), which sells direct to customers through mail order, online and the telephone, and also to IDS’s customers through its TV shopping channels. A further £2.2m could be paid depending on Lead The Good Life reaching profit targets.

Lead The Good Life generated sales of £5.8m in its first 17 months of trading and pre-tax profits of £730,000. IDS hopes the deal will give its trading more of a seasonal balance, complementing its existing bias towards Christmas trading.

IDS chief executive Mike Hancox said the deal has a “clear strategic and financial rationale,” adding “IDS will leverage the combined customer base and provide internet expertise that will enable LTGL to grow profitably.”