Complex sentence: For several years, the company's retail side had difficulties competing with specialist book and music chains on one side and large supermarkets on the other: this led to poor financial performance, and a takeover bid in 2004 by Permira, which fell through.
Split into simpler sentences: For several years, the company's retail side had difficulties competing with specialist book and music chains on one side and large supermarkets on the other. This led to poor financial performance, and a takeover bid in 2004 by Permira, which fell through.