Boohoo, the UK-based online fashion shop, confirmed they have purchased the Debenhams brand for £55 million and will be relaunching the department store as an online-only operation from next year.
Boohoo has stated that the deal, worth £55million, will not include saving Debenhams’ stores which will all close for good as part of a structured winding down of the business, leading us to believe that many of the 12,000 staff will be loosing their jobs.
The co-founder and joint chief executive officer Mahmud Kamani said: “This is a transformational deal for the Group, which allows us to capture the fantastic opportunity as eCommerce continues to grow.
“Our 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.”
This will mean we will be able to purchase Debenhams products sold by Boohoo from early next year, giving liquidators enough time to close the retailer’s sites when the Covid-19 restrictions allows.
Debenhams traces its history back to 1778 when William Clark established a drapers store at 44 Wigmore Street in London’s West End selling expensive fabrics, bonnets, gloves and parasols. In 1813 William Debenham invested in the firm which then became Clark & Debenham. The first store outside London was opened in Cheltenham in 1818, an exact replica of the Wigmore Street store. In the ensuing years the firm prospered from the Victorian fashion for family mourning by which widows and other female relatives adhered to a strict code of clothing and etiquette.
Boohoo have purchased a number of High Street brands in administration such as Oasis, Coast and Karen Millen, but not the stores associated with each brand.
Mr John Lyttle CO of Boohoo said: “The acquisition of the Debenhams brand is an important development for the group, as we seek to capture incremental growth opportunities arising from the accelerating shift to online retail.”
It comes as the billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa buying Asda have made a bid for Topshop.