Asos emerges as frontrunner to buy Topshop
Online retail giant Asos is now the frontrunner to buy Topshop, the flagship brand of Sir Philip Green’s collapsed high street empire Arcadia.
Asos has reportedly put in an offer of more than £250m to buy Topshop, according to Sky News, days after Next withdrew from the race.
If Asos’ bid is successful, the future of Topshop’s workforce could be at risk, as the online retailer is reportedly not interested in buying the brand’s stores.
However, it is in talks about buying Arcadia’s Miss Selfridge brand, as will as Topshop and Topman.
Last week Next announced it had withdrawn from the bidding process after it was unable to meet Arcadia’s price expectations.
Next – which was bidding as part of a joint venture with US investment firm David Kempner – wished the future owners “well in their endeavours to preserve an important part of the UK retail sector”.
Arcadia went into administration in November, putting over 13,000 jobs at risk and becoming Britain’s biggest corporate casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.