Asos hold exclusive talks to buy Arcadia's Topshop

Bosses confirmed the company was on the brink of collapse in November, putting high street stores including Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and Burtons at risk. 

In a desperate year for the UK retail sector Arcadia Group were the biggest high street casualty of the pandemic.

Asos said in a short statement to the London Stock Exchange: “The board believes this would represent a compelling opportunity to acquire strong brands that resonate well with its customer base.

“However, at this stage, there can be no certainty of a transaction and Asos will keep shareholders updated as appropriate. Any acquisition would be funded from cash reserves.”

Topshop is one of the brands under consideration by Asos (Jane Barlow/PA)

Asos does not have a high street presence, so any deal is unlikely to include saving the Arcadia stores, which could close for good, leaving the brands trading online only.

The announcement comes days after high street rival Next said it was pulling out of discussions around a possible bid alongside US hedge fund Davidson Kempner as it was “unable to meet the price expectations of the vendor”.

Arcadia, which employed around 13,000 people and has 444 UK stores, collapsed at the start of December due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, years of under-investment and a failure to keep up with shifts to online shopping.

Final bids are expected to be tabled on Monday but, with Asos revealing it is the only business in talks with administrators from Deloitte, this is now expected to be extended.

Deloitte must publish a list of creditors by Monday as part of insolvency laws, showing just how much debt was owed by Arcadia – including any money due to HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC).

The retail group slid into administration on November 30 – a day before new laws came into force which would have seen the taxman become a preferred creditor and entitled to repayment ahead of unsecured creditors.

Other retailers including Boohoo, Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, and JD Sports in partnership with US retail giant Authentic Brands, were also said to have been considering acquiring some or all of Arcadia’s stores.

Boohoo also announced on Monday that it would is saving the Debenhams brand in a £55 million deal but will close all stores.

Last month, Arcadia’s administrators agreed the sale of the retailer’s plus-sized brand Evans to Australian firm City Chic Collective for £23 million.