British online fashion retailer, Asos is reportedly on the brink of sealing a deal worth £300 million to purchase Miss Selfridge and Topshop from British tycoon Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group. The online fashion retailer is expected to announce the deal’s finalization soon.

Asos hopes to sign a new agreement with administrators of Arcadia Group in advance, ahead of a stock exchange announcement. Arcadia Group, which also owns Dorothy Perkins and Burton, entered administration in November, putting nearly 13,000 jobs at stake.

The Topshop takeover would cost the online fashion retailer approximately £250 million, with the stock cost adding nearly £40 million to the purchase price.

Other bidders that are pursuing a Topshop acquisition deal include U.S-based Authentic Brands, the owner of Barneys department store, which has been associated to a joint bid with JD Sports; billionaire Issa brothers, who in October stated that they were purchasing Asda for around £6.8 billion; and a leading Chinese online fashion retailer Shein.

A senior analyst at GlobalData, Chloe Collins, stated that Asos might be the most compatible new owner for Miss Selfridge, Topshop, and Topman.

Meanwhile, both US brand conglomerate Authentic Brands and JD Sports have discussed about maintaining a high street presence for Topshop under license from online fashion retailer once it finalizes any deal to purchase the business.

The leading online fashion retailer does not have a high street presence, further prompting assumptions that any deal is not likely to include saving the massive store estate of Arcadia, leaving the brands trading through online-medium only.

Additionally, Asos sells already the items of Topshop on its e-commerce channel.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the online fashion retailer Boohoo announced their intention to buy Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, as well as Burton brands from administrator of Arcadia namely Deloitte, for around £25 million.

Recently, Boohoo bought the Debenhams brand as well as website in a takeover deal. However, the deal did not include the 118 brick and mortar Debenhams stores.

Source credit: https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2021/01/asos-to-buy-topshop-and-miss-selfridge-on-monday/