Next, I got out of my plan to buy Arcadia’s Topshop.
In a statement, the retailer said “we have withdrawn from the process to get any or all of the Arcadia groups from the manager,” and “our consortium cannot meet the vendor’s price expectations.” He added.
“The next step is that managers and future owners will do well in their efforts to maintain a critical portion of the UK retail sector,” he added.
Other retailers taking part in the race to buy Topshop include online fashion retailers in China, Shein, and genuine brands. It is also believed that Asos and Boohoo are involved in the conversation.
Shein has made a £300 million offer to Topshop and Topman, but is running another process for other Arcadia brands.
Arcadia brands include Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Miss Selfridge and Burton. Evans has already been sold to City Chic Collective for a £23 million deal.
Sir Philip Green bought Arcadia in 2002 for £850 million. That collapse was one of the biggest casualties on High Street, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.
Arcadia CEO Ian Grabiner said in November when the group fell into control:
“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including forced store closures for a long period, has had a major impact on trading across all brands. Through this extremely challenging time, our priorities are: hiring The goal was to protect the group, maintain the financial stability in the hopes of being able to ride the pandemic and fight on the other side. But in the end, what we’ve experienced so far The obstacles we encountered in the face of the most difficult terms of trading in the world were far too serious.”
