Dixons pays dowry to offload problem-child PIXmania In August last year, Dixons ramped up its stake in PIXmania from 77pc to 99pc in a bid to take "full day to day control of the business." At the time, Sebastian James, chief executive, described PIXmania as "the heart of our very successful UK multi-channel business," but acknowledged that the loss-making firm faced "significant market headwinds." mutares AG owns a string of small and medium sized companies in Europe across various sectors, including engineering, pharmaceuticals and retail. It specialises in snapping up firms in "special situations" such as management changes and turnarounds. The deal requires negotiation with representatives of PIXmania's 1,200-strong workforce. Dixons also said it had agreed to sell its ElectroWorld operations in Turkey to local firm Bimeks for about £2m. The announcements came as Dixons, which has benefited from the demise of Comet and the popularity of the iPad, posted a 2pc jump in like-for-like sales in the first quarter. Stripping out the drag from a 28pc slump in like-for-like sales at PIXmania, however, like-for-like sales climbed 4pc. Mr James hailed the first quarter as "an encouraging start to the year" but struck a warning note on the outlook for austerity-strapped Europe, saying the company "remains cautious on the state of the market for the year ahead."