The DVD and video game rental company Xtra-vision has gone into receivership today.

The company has 152 stores across the island of Ireland and employs more than 1,000 people. The shops will remain open while the receiver, Luke Charlton of Ernst & Young, finds a buyer.

“We are advised that the majority of stores are profitable and collectively will be attractive to potential purchasers. We will work closely with management to assess the viability of each of company’s stores,” Charlton said in a statement.

The receivers said all gift cards, cash deposits and savings club amounts will be honoured.

It is understood that the company has suffered from the withdrawal of credit insurance and it has also faced a drop in DVD rentals because of piracy.  The company’s most recent accounts, for the year to end January 2012, show sales plummeting to €93 million, from €115m in the previous year.

The receivership comes just months after the British entertainment chain HMV closed its Irish shops with the loss of nearly 300.

According to sources close to Xtra-vision, the company has no debts and rents on some of its shops were reduced when it went into examinership in 2011. The examinership resulted in about 20 shops closing.

Xtra-vision is 60% owned by Pageant Holdings, a company controlled by the well-known businessmen Nick Furlong and Peter O’Grady-Walshe. The remaining shares are helped by NCB Ventures – effectively some clients of the stockbroking firm.

In recent years the company has attempted to move away from pure DVD rentals by selling video games and electronics equipment.

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton gave has reaction to the development.