ASOS Regulatory News (ASC)

12th July 2021

ASOS and Nordstrom announce Topshop joint venture

Retailers exploring wider strategic partnership

ASOS today announces that it has formed a joint-venture with US-based multi-channel retailer, Nordstrom, which will invest for a minority interest in the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands. The joint-venture will help drive the growth of these brands and paves the way for exploration of a new wider strategic partnership aimed at building greater awareness and engagement in the US and Canadian market.

Nordstrom has an unrivalled physical and digital reach in North America, operating more than 350 physical stores alongside online platforms that attract almost two billion annual visits. It already has a strong history with Topshop, having been the first US retailer to offer the brand to the US market as far back as 2012.

Under the joint-venture agreement, ASOS will retain operational and creative control, but work with Nordstrom to leverage its US market expertise and extensive customer reach to build an exciting future for these brands in their second biggest market.

The joint-venture paves the way for wider collaboration between ASOS and Nordstrom as we seek to leverage our complementary retail models and customer insight. ASOS is working with Nordstrom to debut as its first-ever retail partner, which will see an edit of the best ASOS brands launching across Nordstrom.com and in selected high-impact Nordstrom stores. Further to this, ASOS click and collect services will be rolled out across the wider Nordstrom store estate as the next step in continuing to enhance the ASOS proposition for its US customers.

Nick Beighton, CEO, commented:

"With its long-established connection to Topshop, extensive US consumer insight and unparalleled reach right across North America, Nordstrom is the right partner to help ASOS accelerate the growth of our Topshop and ASOS brands in this key market.

"ASOS is all about giving customers the confidence to be who they want to be. Partnering with Nordstrom will support our US strategy, allowing us to offer that to even more 20-somethings in North America. We're excited about the opportunities ahead, collaborating to deliver the best product through engaging, friction-free multi-touch experiences and we can't wait to see our ASOS edit in Nordstrom stores."

Pete Nordstrom, President and Chief Brand Officer, commented:

"We could not have found a better partner in ASOS, the world leader in fashion for the 20-something customer.

"We're excited about offering the ASOS brands to our customers and we know we can help further amplify the recognition of the already popular Topshop and Topman brands. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with ASOS to reimagine the wholesale/retail partnership and are excited about our potential as we expand our product offering to a broader audience and deliver on our commitment to helping our customers feel good and look their best."

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Forward looking statements:

This announcement may include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements" (including words such as "believe", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "anticipate" and words of similar meaning). By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty since they relate to future events and circumstances, and actual results may, and often do, differ materially from any forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect management's view with respect to future events as at the date of this announcement. Save as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements in this announcement, whether following any change in its expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement.

Background note

ASOS is an online retailer for fashion-loving 20-somethings around the world, with a purpose to give its customers the confidence to be whoever they want to be. Through its market-leading app and mobile/desktop web experience, available in ten languages and in over 200 markets, ASOS customers can shop a curated edit of 85,000 products, sourced from 860 of the best global and local third-party brands and its mix of fashion-led in-house labels - ASOS Design, ASOS Edition, ASOS 4505, Collusion, Reclaimed Vintage, Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT. ASOS aims to give all of its customers a truly frictionless experience, with an ever-greater number of different payment methods and hundreds of local deliveries and returns options, including Next-Day Delivery and Same-Day Delivery, dispatched from state-of-the-art fulfilment centres in the UK, US and Germany.