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Next has allegedly withdrawn from the race to acquire Arcadia Group, after the store was unable to meet the price tag for Topshop and Topman.
According to The Times, Topshop, which is one of Acardia’s most coveted brands, was said to be valued between £250m and £300m – a sum CEO Wolfson and US hedge fund partner Davidson Kempner could not match.
Since Philip Green’s empire collapsed last November, swarms of international retailers have swooped in to purchase pieces of Arcadia. Just last month Deloitte administrators sold Evans – the groups plus size fashion brand- to City Chic of Australia for £23m.
The race is now believed to be between Authentic Brands, the US owner of department store brand Barneys, which has teamed up with JD sports and Shein, a Chinese fast fashion retailer.
It is reported that if Authentic Brands wins the bidding war they would look to own the Topshop, Topman and Ms Selfridge brands and licence it to JD Sports to run as a joint venture.
Retail Sector has contacted Next for comment.
