Manchester-based online retailer Boohoo has confirmed it has made an offer to acquire the digital businesses of established high street brands Karen Millen and Coast.
In a statement to the stock market published this morning, it said that acquiring the web operations of the two brands “would represent highly complementary additions”.
Boohoo made no mention however of the struggling brands’ high street business, which together encompasses 32 stores and 177 concessions across the UK, employing around 1,100 staff. Coast also has a sizeable overseas presence.
The group said: “The board confirms that it has made an offer to acquire the online business of renowned British brands Karen Millen and Coast, together with all associated intellectual property rights.
“The group believes that the online business of these brands would represent highly complementary additions to its scalable multi-brand platform and extend the group’s offer as part of its vision to lead the fashion e-commerce market globally.
“These discussions may or may not result in agreement of a transaction. A further announcement will be made when appropriate.”
Sky reports that the firms would be bought through a pre-pack administration, which would be initiated once Deloitte had been appointed as administrator to Karen Millen.
Boohoo, founded in Manchester 14 years ago by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, most recently reported a 48% surge in revenue to £856.9m, with pre-tax profits up 38% to £59.9m.
It also owns PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal and has more than 11 million customer accounts across its brands worldwide.
