British online fashion retailer Boohoo has entered exclusive talks with the administrators of Philip Green's collapsed Arcadia group over the purchase of the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands, threatening thousands more high street jobs.
A deal for the three brands, which would not include its stores and staff, could complete the break-up of Green’s empire which fell into administration in November owing creditors hundreds of millions of pounds and putting more than 13,000 jobs at risk.
On Monday, Boohoo's rival ASOS said it was in exclusive talks with Arcadia's administrators Deloitte over the acquisition of the more prized Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands.
Sky News has reported that ASOS could pay more than £250 million pounds (€282 million) for the Topshop brand, while Boohoo would pay about £25 million for the remaining brands.
Boohoo said on Friday a deal was not guaranteed.
It emerged this week that almost 500 workers are to be made redundant at Arcadia in the Republic.
Jewels in the crown
“While not viewed (or priced) as the ‘jewels in the Arcadia crown’, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, and Burton are well-known brands that in the year to Sep-18 generated a sizeable £580 million of revenue between them,” said Jefferies analyst Andrew Wade.
The administrators sold Arcadia’s Evans brand to Australia’s City Chic for 23 million pounds last month.
On Monday, Boohoo bought the Debenhams brand out of administration for £55 million. The deal excluded Debenhams' stores and its 12,000 staff. – Reuters
