THIS ANNOUNCEMENT INCLUDES INSIDE INFORMATION
25 January 2021
ASOS plc
Statement in relation to media speculation regarding Arcadia assets
ASOS plc notes recent media speculation and confirms that it is in exclusive discussions with the Administrators of Arcadia over the acquisition of the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands. 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.
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The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of ASOS is Anna Suchopar, General Counsel and Company Secretary.
For further information:
ASOS plc |
Tel: 020 7756 1000 |
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Nick Beighton, Chief Executive Officer |
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Mathew Dunn, Chief Financial Officer Alison Lygo, Investor Relations Website: www.asosplc.com/investors |
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Headland Consultancy |
Tel: 020 3805 4822 |
Susanna Voyle / Stephen Malthouse / Fay Rajaratnam |
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JPMorgan Cazenove |
Tel: 020 7742 4000 |
Bill Hutchings / Christopher Wood |
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Numis Securities |
Tel: 020 7260 1000 |
Alex Ham / Jonathan Wilcox / Tom Jacob |
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Background note
ASOS, a UK-based AIM-listed business, 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 850 of the best global and local third-party brands and its mix of fashion-led in-house labels including ASOS Design, ASOS 4504, and its Venture Brands, Collusion and AsYou. 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 and Same-Day Delivery, dispatched from state-of-the-art fulfilment centres in the UK, Germany and the US.
In early January 2021, ASOS revealed that it will invest £90m in a brand-new state-of-the-art fulfilment centre in Lichfield, Staffordshire, with a plan to employ 2,000 people at the site over the next three years, adding to the 7,000 people it already directly employs in the UK. A week later, it announced its results for the first four months of its financial year. Over the period, the company delivered a 23% year-on-year growth in sales and revenues of £1.364bn. These results were underpinned by a strong sales performance across all geographies and a 1.1m increase in active customers to 24.5m people.