(Alliance News) - High street giant Marks & Spencer Group PLC has bought upmarket fashion brand Jaeger following its collapse last autumn.
The retail bellwether is expected to buy the intellectual property only, allowing M&S to sell Jaeger-branded goods on its website as a third-party brand.
M&S did not disclose the amount paid but it is understood to be around GBP5 million.
The deal means no store staff from Jaeger are expected to keep their jobs and all physical sites – closed due to lockdown restrictions – are expected to stay shut permanently.
Jaeger was placed into administration alongside sister firm Peacocks in November by Dubai-based owner and retailer Philip Day.
The tycoon's EWM Group had already called in administrators for its Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Ponden Home business earlier in November.
Last week there was hope from FRP Advisory, administrator for the businesses, as it issued sale contracts to a potential buyer for 400 stores trading under the Edinburgh Woollen Mill brand.
However, it is unlikely to save many stores from closure, adding to the almost one-third of its 2,571 employees already made redundant.
The move to buy up Jaeger would fit with M&S's new strategy of selling third-party brands, with existing tie-ups with the likes of Nobody's Child and Ghost.
It is also thought to be among those in the running for some of Philip Green's collapsed Arcadia Group brands, such as Topshop.
Last week at M&S's Christmas trading update, Chief Executive Steve Rowe explained the rationale behind teaming up and buying new brands.
He said: "M&S wants to build a curated set of brands and merchandise largely for our online business but also through filling some of that excess space we have in stores.
"We've got no intention of turning M&S into a department store at all. This is about finding and partnering with adjacent brands. Adjacent in terms of style, adjacent in terms of customer base that enhance the M&S offer and make it the place to go to for an online shop."
The deal comes as M&S also revealed it is one of a number of food retailers struggling to get to grips with complex new rules on exports following the signing of a post-Brexit trade agreement with the EU.
Rowe said the retailer has found problems around "point of origin" rules, leading to stores on the island of Ireland missing key M&S food products.
He insisted the problems will be resolved over time.
Shares in Marks & Spencer closed down 2.6% in London on Monday at 134.30 pence each.
By Simon Neville, PA City Editor
source: PA
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