Staffordshire-based Phones4U owner Caudwell Group will be sold to two private equity firms in a deal worth £1.46 billion.
Mobile phone tycoon John Caudwell put the company up for sale in November so he could fulfil his ambition of sailing around the world.
And it has emerged private equity firms Doughty Hanson & Co and Providence Equity Partners have agreed a deal for the entire group. As part of the move Doughty Hanson will retain the Crewe-based 20:20 Logistics Distribution Group, which will be renamed the 20-20 Mobile Group.
Meanwhile, Providence will acquire the Phones4U arm, which boasts a network of 325 stores across the UK. The deal is expected to be rubberstamped in September.
Mr Caudwell, who owned an 85 per cent stake in the business, is expected to net £1 billion. He said: "Selling the business will allow me to spend more time fulfilling personal ambitions, more time with my family and more time working with my charity. However, I also have a number of investment and commercial plans in the pipeline, which will allow me to maintain some interests in the business world."
A spokesman for the Stoke-based group said a private equity bid had been favoured, rather than a trade sale so the company could continue to grow and jobs would be protected.
Mr Caudwell set up the firm with his brother Brian in 1987 when mobile phones were virtually unheard of and has since seen the business blossom.
Initially the company took eight months to sell its first order of 26 phones, but now it now sales of about 26 phones every minute and employs 8,000 people.
The private company's profits outstripped forecasts in the year to December 31 after a strong Christmas driven by demand for the latest handsets.
Group sales rose 15 per cent to £2.12 billion, while earnings before interest, tax and goodwill came in at £149 million - well ahead of the £115 million predicted by the firm.
Phones 4U chief executive Tim Whiting said: "The existing management team are excited by this opportunity and are all committed to the future of the business.
John and Brian Caudwell topped the latest Birmingham Post Midlands Rich List with a combined wealth estimated at £1.5 billion.
