Online fashion retailer Asos has bought the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands from failed retail group Arcadia for £295m.
Asos is acquiring the stock and the brands although, it is not acquiring the stores. The deal is £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.”
Mr Beighton said that acquiring the brands would accelerate Asos’s mission to become “the number one destination for fashion-loving 20-somethings throughout the world. This deal makes perfect sense for us on every level.”
During an interview with the BBC, he said: “There was a lot of competition and we’re really pleased we eventually came through and won the brands.
We think we’re the natural owners for these brands. We know these customers and we know this market. We have the best designers in London and really I think these brands sit naturally on the Asos platform.”
Administrators for Arcadia confirmed the deal, saying about 300 current employees in the design, buying and retail departments would move to Asos. The administrators announced that the deal was expected to complete on 4 February.
Asos believes it has just bought “strong consumer-facing brands” and saw “a significant opportunity” to drive further growth for them globally saying that the brands would get “investment into customer engagement and brand positioning in line with our existing model” in return.
Over 70 Topshop stores and Debenhams’ 124 High Street stores are due to shut from next month.
Associate dean of Warwick Business School, Prof John Colley, called the Asos deal as “another nail in the High Street’s coffin,” saying that: “Meanwhile. landlords will have to try to re-let the properties and there will be few takers in the current climate. With retail values collapsing, it is likely that many of these properties have to be converted for other uses. In that sense, we can see Covid-19 accelerating and crystallising trends which have been developing for many years.“
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