RE: Today news - massively deRisk ASOS5 Sep 2024 11:40
The deal values Topshop at £180m, down from the £265m paid to buy the brand from administrators to Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia empire in 2021. The total £330m price tag included £65m of stock.
Asos will hold on to a 22.5% stake, and its existing Topshop partner Nordstrum just over 2%, with Heartland controlling the rest.
Analysts said net debt, which stood at £348m when last reported in April, would fall by about £150m. Asos is issuing £250m in new bonds and buying back existing ones in a deal analysts at Panmure Liberum said would “alleviate some of the short-term concerns around the company’s debt position”.
Calamonte said the sell-off would help “accelerate our strategy to both offer customers the best and most relevant product and to turn Asos into a company that delivers sustainable, profitable growth”.
Calamonte said Topshop could return to the high street with its own stores, as part of the deal with Bestseller, as well as putting clothes into more department stores, as it currently does with US group Nordstrum. “We might open stores. We will consider it for sure but we have no specific agreement to open a certain number,” he said.
Calamonte said Asos had put the Topshop brand “back in shape for growth”, having revamped its supply chain, product quality and creative direction.
He said the deal came about after unsolicited approaches, and Bestseller was selected as the most appropriate offer to “accelerate and make the brand more accessible for consumers”.
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