Struggling UK fashion retailer French Connection is seeking new suitors as investment firms Spotlight Brands and Gordon Brothers pulled out of preliminary talks to buy it. The company had launched a sale process and had been approached by three other parties. It said it is still in preliminary talks with previously announced joint suitor Go Global Retail and HMJ International.
Go Global-HMJ has until March 5 to decide whether to make a bid, a global newswire reported.French Connection is seeking new suitors as investment firms Spotlight Brands and Gordon Brothers pulled out of preliminary talks to buy it. The UK-based company had launched a sale process and had been approached by three other parties. It said it is still in preliminary talks with previously announced joint suitor Go Global Retail and HMJ International.#
Once known for its provocative ‘FCUK’ brand of clothing and accessories, the company has not been profitable in nearly a decade.
In October last year, the company reported that its losses more than tripled in the six months till July 31 from a year earlier, as the retailer, whose brands include namesake French Connection, Great Plains and YMC, also struggled to differentiate itself from rivals like Inditex’s Zara.
WH Ireland is acting as the sole financial adviser and broker on the sale for French Connection, which was founded in 1972 by chief executive and top shareholder Stephen Marks.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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