Online fashion giant boohoo has acquired Debenhams out of administration in a 拢55 million deal.听
The group intends to rebuild and relaunch Debenhams鈥� online platform听and grow into new categories including beauty, sport and homeware.听
In December administrators said the iconic retailer would be wound down, with all physical shops closed听and 12,000 jobs put at risk.听
boohoo will not take on the running of Debenhams’ retail stores or any of its staff.
The听242-year-old听business听has an听established online platform with approximately 300 million UK website visits a year, making it a top 10 retail website in the UK by traffic.听
In its most recent financial year to 31st听August 2020,听the company听generated听gross听transaction听value of 拢1.524 billion and EBITDA of 拢12.7m.听The听online听portion of the听business generated听approximately 拢400m听of these revenues.听
“This is a transformational deal for the group, which allows us to capture the fantastic opportunity as eCommerce continues to grow,鈥� said executive chairman听Mahmud Kamani.听
鈥淥ur ambition is to create the UK’s largest marketplace. Our acquisition of the Debenhams brand is strategically significant as it represents a huge step which accelerates our ambition to be a leader, not just in fashion eCommerce, but in new categories including beauty, sport and homeware.”听
boohoo has acquired听all of听the intellectual property assets听– including customer data 鈥� of Debenhams Retail.听
It plans to听create听the UK’s largest marketplace across fashion, beauty, sport and homeware,听expanding听the range of products sold听and including boohoo鈥檚 existing portfolio within this.听听
Debenhams has 6m听beauty shoppers and 1.4m 鈥楤eauty Club鈥� members. boohoo plans to听continue to operate the current wholesale听model, but听will also look to add new beauty brands via the marketplace.听
Debenhams’ own fashion brands will be absorbed into boohoo’s current brand portfolio and sold via the core Debenhams site and听its听own pureplay websites. boohoo plans听to develop the platform for international markets in the future.听听
“The acquisition of the Debenhams brand is an important development for the听group, as we seek to capture incremental growth opportunities arising from the accelerating shift to online retail,鈥� said boohoo CEO听John Lyttle.听
鈥�We have developed a successful multi-brand direct-to-consumer platform that continues to disrupt the markets that we operate in.听听
鈥�The acquisition represents an exciting strategic opportunity to transform our target addressable market through the creation of an online marketplace that leverages Debenhams’ high brand awareness and traffic through the development of beauty and fashion partnerships connecting brands with consumers.”听
In order to allow for the winding down of Debenhams’ operations,听the firm听will continue to operate its website for an agreed period before the relaunch on听boohoo group’s platform听in Q1 FY22.听
A听licence has been granted to allow for the winding down of Debenhams’ retail stores听鈥撎�when听they are听in a position听to reopen听鈥撎�for听an additional period.