Three well known fashion brands have seen their whole or parts of their brands acquired by expanding names in the UK.
The moves reflect the changing face of the UK high street and fashion market and the ongoing challenges facing the mid- and premium-fashion markets.
Online fashion retailer Boohoo has bought the online operations of rival fashion brands Karen Millen and Coast.
The online specialist said it had completed an £18.2m agreement to purchase the online business and all intellectual property rights. No physical stores or space were included.
The retail brands were put up for sale by owner, Icelandic bank Kaupthing, but efforts to find a buyer in a solvent sale fell short.
The so-called pre-pack administration allows the buyer to cherry pick parts of a business. Boohoo said it would retain all 125 staff who work in the online operations.
It leaves just shy of 1,000 other people - the vast majority employed within 32 shops or 177 concessions - fearing for their jobs. They face redundancy if no buyer emerges.
Business services firm Deloitte, which is handling the sale process, said it had already had to cut staff under the administration process.
It said: "Karen Millen and Coast will continue to trade in store for a short time whilst the administrators realise the other assets of the companies. Unfortunately, it has been necessary to announce 62 immediate redundancies.
"Like many high street retailers, Karen Millen has suffered from high product and other cost inflation, decreasing footfall, weaker consumer confidence and a complex global operation in an increasingly competitive market."
Boohoo said the online business it was buying were "highly complementary".
Chief executive, John Lyttle, said: "The acquisition of the online business of two great and renowned British brands in Karen Millen and Coast represents another milestone in the group's growth story as it continues to invest in its scalable multi-brand platform and gain further share in the global fashion e-commerce market."
RPA Perspective Meanwhile, Sports Direct has shut eight Jack Wills stores after acquiring the premium lifestyle brand via a pre-pack administration deal worth £12.8 million earlier this month.
Jack Wills operates from roughly 98 stores. The store closures are in Marlborough, Derby, Reigate, Rock, Tunbridge Wells, Durham, Kingston and St Albans.
Following the acquisition, all 100 Jack Wills stores in the UK and Ireland, as well as the distribution centre, have been transferred to Sports Direct, along with all 1700 employees.
CBRE is advising Sports Direct on the Jack Wills property portfolio.
Jack Wills continues to occupy stores on license from its administrators until its new owner can negotiate fresh lease agreements. It also emerged that Sports Direct is negotiating with Jack Wills’ landlords to accept rent-free tenancy agreements across some of its worst-performing stores.
Mike Ashley’s retail group is understood to be seeking to slash Jack Wills rents to zero, and is offering landlords 5% of turnover at the majority of Jack Wills stores.
