More than 2,000 jobs at electricals retailer PowerHouse have been been secured after a buyer was found for the troubled chain.

New Zealand firm Pacific Retail Group (PRG) sealed a deal with administrators at accountants Deloitte and Touche to buy the majority of the company's stores and infrastructure.

Administrators were called in to PowerHouse last month after a trade insurer withdrew cover for some of its suppliers. Trade insurance covers suppliers in the period between delivery of goods to a retailer and receipt of payment.

Plans were immediately announced to close 93 of its 223 stores by the end of last month, threatening more than 800 jobs.

But not all the stores earmarked for closure had done so by the time PRG sealed the deal, which includes 142 stores, the majority of its operating infrastructure and staff as well as the PowerHouse brand.

Exact numbers for how many jobs have been saved are not available yet, but Deloitte and Touche said it was more than 2,000.

Powerhouse employs 40 people in three outlets on Teesside. Two stores are in Teesside Retail Park, in Stockton. One sells brown goods, such as televisions, and a second unit sells white goods, such as fridges and freezers.

Powerhouse also has a branch at Skippers Lane Retail Park, South Bank.

PRG's UK representative, Peter Halkett, said: "PRG is extremely enthusiastic about the PowerHouse acquisition and is absolutely confident that the stores included in the acquisition, together with the operating infrastructure and staff, can be pulled together into a strong and growing UK retail group."

Commentators had thought that Argos-to-Homebase retailer GUS, or Comet owner Kesa Electricals and Dixons would be first in line to snap up all or part of the chain.

Nick Dargan, one of the administrators, said: "We are exceptionally pleased to have sold this business as a going concern, which was our prime objective, and to have preserved over 2,000 jobs.

"Most commentators believed a break-up of the business was the most likely scenario, which would have generated less value for creditors."

PRG is New Zealand's largest appliance retail group, trading under the brands Noel Leeming, Bond and Bond and Big Byte.