Asos buys Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge Brands

Online fashion retailer Asos has bought the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands from failed retail group Arcadia in a deal worth £295m.

Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia group fell into administration in November last year, casting doubt over the future of its brands and 13,000 jobs.

Asos is acquiring the stock and the brands. However, it is not taking on the stores.

It is paying £265m for the brands and a further £30m for the stock.

Asos chief executive Nick Beighton said: “The acquisition of these iconic British brands is a hugely exciting moment for Asos and our customers and will help accelerate our multi-brand platform strategy.

“We have been central to driving their recent growth online and, under our ownership, we will develop them further, using our design, marketing, technology and logistics expertise, and working closely with key strategic retail partners in the UK and around the world.”

Investment plans

Administrators for Arcadia confirmed the deal, saying about 300 people currently employed by the brands in design, buying and retail partnerships would transfer to Asos.

The administrators added that the deal was expected to complete on 4 February.

However, neither Asos nor the administrators made any mention of the thousands of people who worked in the brands’ store networks, nor what will happen to their jobs.

Asos said it had acquired “strong consumer-facing brands” and saw “a significant opportunity” to drive further growth for them globally.

It added that the brands would benefit from “investment into customer engagement and brand positioning in line with our existing model”.

Asos has seen strong sales in the pandemic and is already one of the biggest wholesalers for the brands that it has acquired.

Other brands

Another of Sir Philip Green’s brands, Evans, was bought by Australia’s City Chic in December for £23m.

Other brands in the Arcadia stable that have not yet been sold are Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton.

It emerged last week that online fashion retailer Boohoo was in “exclusive” talks to snap up those brands.

Also last week, Boohoo sealed a deal to buy the Debenhams brand and website for £55m. However, the price tag did not include any of the retailer’s remaining 118 High Street stores or its workforce, resulting in up to 12,000 job losses.

Sir Philip Green is under pressure to use his own money to plug an estimated £350m hole in Arcadia’s pension fund, which has about 10,000 members.

Last year, the retail tycoon had an estimated fortune of £930m, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

BBC

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