Boohoo buys Debenhams, ASOS moves for Topshop
Big moves by online fashion players are revealing their upper hand over traditional bricks and mortar clothing retailers.
British online retailers Boohoo and ASOS made major expansion moves on Monday (Jan 25), with the former buying the Debenhams brand.
While ASOS is in talks to buy the key brands of Philip Green's collapsed Arcadia group.
The online trend has been accelerated by the pandemic.
Boohoo said it had acquired all of the intellectual property assets, including customer data, and selected contracts of Debenhams from its administrators for $75.4 million.
But it will not take on 243-year-old Debenhams' stores or its staff.
Shares in Boohoo were up around 4% in morning trade.
Debenhams' administrators said last month it was starting a liquidation process, putting 12,000 jobs at risk.
Meanwhile, ASOS said it was in exclusive talks with the administrators of Green's collapsed Arcadia group.
It's keen to acquire brands from the group including Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge.
Arcadia collapsed into administration in November, putting over 13,000 jobs at risk.
