ASOS settles trade mark disputes

RNS Number : 7660I

ASOS PLC

02 September 2016

2 September 2016

ASOS plc

ASOS settles trade mark disputes

The Board of ASOS Plc ("ASOS") announces that it has reached a global settlement regarding trade mark infringement disputes with high-performance cycle wear manufacturer Assos of Switzerland GmbH ("Assos"), and German menswear retailer, Anson's Herrenhaus KG ("Anson's"). The disputes have resulted in several cases being heard in court, as well as multiple trade mark registry actions around the world.

Agreements have been entered into whereby ASOS is to pay a total of £20.2 million in cash, in a full, final and global settlement of all outstanding litigation with each of Assos and Anson's, securing a comprehensive co-existence for all parties.

The payment will be reported as an exceptional item at the year end.

Nick Beighton, CEO, commented:

"We are pleased to have put this litigation behind us. Entering into this settlement at this juncture is the right commercial decision for our business."

Management will host the following conference call to discuss the announcement:

Analyst/investor conference call at 08:00am:

Dial-in UK:	0800 694 0257
Dial-in International:	+44 (0)1452 555 566
Conference ID:	75436735

For further information:

ASOS plc	Tel: 020 7756 1000
Nick Beighton, Chief Executive Officer Helen Ashton, Chief Financial Officer Greg Feehely, Director of Investor Relations Website: www.asosplc.com/investors
Instinctif Partners	Tel: 020 7457 2020
Matthew Smallwood / Justine Warren / Guy Scarborough
JPMorgan Cazenove	Tel: 020 7742 4000
Michael Wentworth-Stanley / Caroline Thomlinson
Numis Securities	Tel: 020 7260 1000
Alex Ham / Luke Bordewich

Background note

ASOS is a global fashion destination for 20-somethings. We sell cutting-edge fashion and offer a wide variety of fashion-related content, making ASOS.com the hub of a thriving fashion community. We sell over 85,000 branded and own-brand products through localised mobile and web experiences, delivering from our fulfilment centres in the UK, US and Europe to almost every country in the world.

We tailor the mix of own-label, global and local brands sold through each of our eight local language websites: UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, and Russia.

ASOS's websites attracted 123 million visits during June 2016 (June 2015: 98 million) and as at 30 June 2016 had 12.0 million active customers¹ (30 June 2015: 9.7 million), of which 4.6 million were located in the UK and 7.4 million were located in our international territories (30 June 2015: 3.8 million in the UK and 5.9 million internationally).

¹Defined as having shopped in the last twelve months

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