However, those deals do not include shops, meaning thousands of high street jobs are at risk and hundreds of sites will become vacant.
Here is what has been sold from the Arcadia Group and to which firms:
Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis
Online fashion firm Boohoo will acquire the brands, intellectual property and inventory of the three brands for a cash consideration of £25.2 million.It will also take on certain liabilities for forward committed stock orders.
On completion of the purchase, around 260 employees, including from design, buying, merchandising and digital teams, will transfer to Boohoo. But the buyer is not taking 214 sites the brands operated from, meaning around 2450 jobs are at risk.
Mahmud Kamani, executive chairman at Boohoo, which last month also bought the Debenhams brand, said: "This is a great acquisition for the group as we extend our market share across a broader demographic,capitalising on growth opportunities as more and more customers shop online. We continue to grow our portfolio of brands and customer base.”
In another example of a digital giant acquiring part of the Arcadia empire, Asos in early February said it had inked a deal to buy some of the crown jewels in the Arcadia fashion group.
Approximately 300 jobs will be safeguarded as part of the firm’s purchase of the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands. However, with shops not part of the swoop, some 2,500 roles are at risk.
The purchase values the brands at £265 million, and the new owner will also buy £30 million of stock upfront to support initial trading.
Asos, led by Nick Beighton, said the purchase represents“a compelling strategic opportunity in support of our mission to become the number one destination for fashion loving 20-somethings worldwide”.
Asos called the brands it bought “strong”and said they resonate well with its core customer base.
In December the Evans brand, e-commerce and wholesale business was sold to City Chic Collective in a £23 million deal.
CityChic is a retailer specialising in plus-size women’s apparel,footwear and accessories. Listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, it operates primarily online in Australia and New Zealand and the US, as well as through a store network in ANZ, and wholesale and marketplace partnerships in the US, UK and Europe.
The transaction excludes the Evans store network.
The process to generate proceeds from Arcadia Group’s remaining assets, principally from the property portfolio, is ongoing.
Elsewhere today, it emerged a group of more than 150 former Arcadia staff are to launch a legal battle against the retail empire over their redundancies.
The “devastated” staff members have claimed that Arcadia failed to follow the correct consultation procedures when making redundancies.
One former Miss Selfridge worker involved in the legal claim, who asked not to be named, said he received the news of redundancies while on a call with a representative from HR.
One former worker at Topshop’s flagship Oxford Street store has also said she was asked to volunteer to work until February 12 to help clear stock or face having her wages halted with immediate effect.
Aticus Law, which is representing the staff, said it has also already received calls from staff impacted by Boohoo’s acquisition of Arcadia brands.
The move will see the ex-staff take Arcadia Group to court for their case pursuing a Protective Awards claim for compensation to be heard by an employment tribunal.
If successful, those involved in the challenge will be entitled to up to eight weeks’ worth of pay in compensation, with a cap of £538 per week, the firm said.
Hannah Stewart-MacCallum of Aticus Law said: “This has been a particularly difficult time for the Arcadia Group employees given the huge amount of speculation about whether there would be job losses as a result of the Asos acquisition.
“Many found themselves continuing to turn up to work every day to process online orders amidst the continued uncertainty.
“However, despite the time it has taken to complete the deal, we’re receiving calls from former staff who say they were made redundant with immediate effect which, if that is the case, is in breach of employment law.
“Obviously we’re in the very early investigative stages here, but we’re doing all we can to process the information and ensure people get the support they need.”
