Last checked at 
* Philip Green's Arcadia fell into administration in
November
* ASOS says deal will accelerate multi-brand platform
strategy
* Also buys 30 mln stg of stock, takes on 300 Arcadia
employees
* Thousands of jobs set to be lost
* ASOS shares up 4%
(Adds detail, CEO comments, shares)
By James Davey
LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - British online fashion retailer
ASOS has bought the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT
brands from the administrators of Philip Green's collapsed
Arcadia group for 265 million pounds ($364 million) so it can
accelerate its multi-brand strategy.
The deal for Arcadia's prized brands, which will also see
ASOS buy 30 million pounds of stock, does not include
their 70 stores, putting thousands of jobs at risk and
underlining the shift of power towards online retailers.
Green's Arcadia empire fell into administration in November
owing creditors hundreds of millions of pounds and threatening
more than 13,000 jobs.
Its collapse was the biggest corporate failure of the
COVID-19 pandemic so far.
While the internet has been reshaping the British retail
landscape and the clothing sector for more than a decade,
multiple lockdowns to stem the coronavirus crisis have
accelerated the move to home shopping.
According to the Centre for Retail Research, the UK retail
sector lost 177,000 jobs in 2020, with a further 200,000
expected to be shed this year.
The four acquired brands generated revenue of 265 million
pounds in full-year 2020 and already trade on ASOS, which
targets twenty somethings.
"We saw this as a compelling opportunity to acquire four
really iconic British brands, brands that we know resonate
really well with our existing core customers," CEO Nick Beighton
told Reuters.
"These brands grew at over 40% in our first four months of
the (2020-21) year, so we know they work well, we know our
customers love them. They're an acceleration to our existing
strategy," he said.
ASOS's deal with Arcadia's administrators Deloitte, fully
funded from cash resources, will see about 300 employees across
design, buying and retail partnerships transfer to the group.
Shares in ASOS, which was founded in 2000, were up 4% at
0940 GMT, extending year gains to 51.4% and giving it a market
capitalisation of 4.7 billion pounds - some 1.9 billion pounds
more than the 137-year-old Marks & Spencer.
ASOS said incremental core earnings from the deal in its
2020-21 year would be offset by initial ramp-up costs. There
would also be additional one-off restructuring and transaction
costs of about 20 million pounds.
"It will be financially double digit accretive in full year
2022 and beyond," said Beighton.
On Friday, ASOS's rival Boohoo said it had entered
into exclusive talks with Arcadia's administrators over the
purchase of the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands.
If a deal is struck there it would complete the break-up of
Green's empire.
($1 = 0.7279 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey, editing by Estelle Shirbon, Keith
Weir and David Evans)
