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* Boohoo buys Debenhams brand for 55 mln stg
* Deal does not include stores or staff
* Debenhams stores to close permanently
* ASOS in exclusive talks to buy Topshop and Topman
* Boohoo shares up 4.4%, ASOS up 5.2%
(Adds detail, context, updates shares)
By James Davey
LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest online fashion
retailers Boohoo and ASOS have swooped on
collapsed Debenhams and Arcadia as the COVID-19 pandemic
turbocharges the industry's shift to digital, threatening tens
of thousands of jobs.
While the internet has been reshaping the British retail
landscape and the clothing sector for more than a decade,
multiple lockdowns to stem the spread of the coronavirus have
accelerated the move to home shopping.
Established in 2000 and 2006 respectively ASOS and Boohoo
are Britain's biggest e-commerce success stories, ideally placed
to tap into a generation of consumers who increasingly shop on
mobile phones and communicate via social media.
ASOS quadrupled profit in its 2019-20 financial year and
Boohoo posted a 51% jump in first-half profit despite negative
publicity over its supply chain. Their stock market
capitalisations have grown to 4.8 billion pounds ($6.6 billion)
and 4.2 billion pounds respectively.
By contrast, Debenhams and Philip Green's Arcadia - the
stores of which have been a fixture on Britain's shopping
streets for decades - both collapsed into administration last
year, putting 25,000 jobs at risk.
Boohoo on Monday said it had acquired the 243-year-old
Debenhams brand and other business assets, including all its
in-house brands and websites, for 55 million pounds.
But the deal with Debenhams' administrators, FRP Advisory,
does not include any of the chain's 124 stores or safeguard
jobs.
Debenhams has been in administration since April and last
month FRP said it was starting a liquidation process, putting
12,000 jobs at risk.
Debenhams' stores are closed because of lockdowns, but once
able to reopen FRP will conduct a stock liquidation before
closing the sites permanently, the administrators 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," said Boohoo Chief Executive John Lyttle, adding
that the deal will enable it to grow into new categories
including beauty, sport and homewares.
Shares in Boohoo were up 4.4% at 1037 GMT.
'COMPELLING OPPORTUNITY'
ASOS, meanwhile, announced that it was in exclusive talks
with the administrators of Green's fallen Arcadia group over the
acquisition of the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT
brands.
Arcadia collapsed into administration in November, putting
more than 13,000 jobs at risk.
"The board believes this would represent a compelling
opportunity to acquire strong brands that resonate well with its
(the company's) customer base," ASOS said, adding that any deal
would be funded from cash reserves.
Sky News on Saturday reported that ASOS could pay more than
250 million pounds for the Topshop brand.
Next pulled out of the contest on Thursday, saying
it did not want to overpay.
Shares in ASOS were up 5.2%, extending year-on-year gains to
58%.
Given the likelihood of huge job losses, shopworkers union
Usdaw called for urgent action from the UK government to "save
our high streets", noting that there were 20,000 store closures
and 180,000 retail job losses last year.
($1 = 0.7315 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey
Additional reporting by Paul Sandle
Editing by Kate Holton and David Goodman)
