Asos in exclusive talks to buy Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia

Asos has confirmed it is in exclusive talks to buy Sir Philip Green’s collapsed retail empire Arcadia, in a move that could potentially see some of the brands return as online-only businesses.

The online fashion giant, which sells to twenty-somethings, said it is in discussions with administrators over the acquisition of Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT, which is sold via Burton. 

It comes as another online firm – Boohoo – has struck a deal to buy the Debenhams brand for £55million and will relaunch the department store as an online-only operation from next year.

Swoop: Asos has bid more than £250m, putting it in contention with foreign bidders Shein and Authentic Brands, which want to buy the trophy asset to get a foothold in the UK

Final bids are expected to be tabled today, but with Asos revealing it is the only business in talks with administrators from Deloitte, this is now expected to be extended. 

Asos said in a short statement to the London Stock Exchange: ‘The board believes this would represent a compelling opportunity to acquire strong brands that resonate well with its customer base.

‘However, at this stage, there can be no certainty of a transaction and Asos will keep shareholders updated as appropriate. Any acquisition would be funded from cash reserves.’

It is understood administrators at Deloitte are hoping to top a sale price of £400million for the whole group, chiefly from selling Topshop. 

They are set to publish a list of creditors today as part of insolvency laws, showing just how much debt was owed by Arcadia – including any money due to HM Revenues and Customs.

Asos does not have a high street presence, so any deal is unlikely to include saving the Arcadia stores, which could close for good, leaving the brands trading online only.

The announcement comes days after high street rival Next said it was pulling out of discussions around a possible bid alongside US hedge fund Davidson Kempner as it was ‘unable to meet the price expectations of the vendor’.

Arcadia, which employed around 13,000 people and has 444 UK stores, collapsed at the start of December after being ravaged by the pandemic, years of under-investment and a failure to keep up with shifts to online shopping.  

The retail group slid into administration on November 30 – a day before new laws came into force which would have seen the taxman become a preferred creditor and entitled to repayment ahead of unsecured creditors.

Other retailers including Boohoo, Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, and JD Sports in partnership with US retail giant Authentic Brands, were also said to have been considering acquiring some or all of Arcadia’s stores.

Meanwhile, Chinese fast fashion giant, Shein, is also understood to have swooped, along with Asda, which was recently bought by the billionaire Issa brothers.

Boohoo also announced on Monday that it would is saving the Debenhams brand in a £55 million deal but will close all stores.

Last month, Arcadia’s administrators agreed the sale of the retailer’s plus-sized brand Evans to Australian firm City Chic Collective for £23million.   

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk