Boohoo Group PLC (LON:BOO), a leading online fashion group, has today announced that it has completed an asset purchase agreement for renowned British brands Karen Millen and Coast. The brands were recently put up for sale by Icelandic bank, Kaupthing.
The Group has acquired the online business and all associated intellectual property rights from the administrators of Karen Millen Fashions Limited and Karen Millen Retail Limited, both of which entered into administration on 6 August 2019, for £18.2m, funded by the Group’s existing cash resources.
Founded by Karen Millen and Kevin Stanford in 1981, Karen Millen is known globally for creating beautifully crafted fashion for confident women who know their own style. Coast was founded in 1996 with the belief that life is for living, fashion should be fun and dressing up is for every day.
The Group believes that the online business of these brands are highly complementary additions to its scalable multi-brand platform and their acquisition extends the Group’s offer as part of its vision to lead the fashion e-commerce market globally.
In its most recent financial year to February 2019, unaudited management information shows that direct online sales from the websites of Karen Millen and Coast totalled £28.4m.
John Lyttle, Group CEO, commented:
“The acquisition of the online business of two great and renowned British brands in Karen Millen and Coast represents another milestone in the Group’s growth story as it continues to invest in its scalable multi-brand platform and gain further share in the global fashion e-commerce market.”
Further financial information
Karen Millen Fashions Limited and Karen Millen Retail Limited are subsidiaries of Karen Millen Holdco 1 Limited. Audited accounts for Karen Millen Holdco 1 Limited for the financial year ended February 2018 showed turnover of £161.9m and an operating loss of £1.4m, which includes all revenues and costs associated with its retail, wholesale, franchising and licensing operations. In October 2018, the Coast brand was acquired out of administration by Karen Millen Fashions Limited, with unaudited management information showing that revenues across all operations for both brands totalled £174.1m for the financial year to 28 February 2019, of which direct online sales were £28.4m, as noted above.
