Frasers completes acquisition of JD brands
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has finalised the acquisition of five fashion labels from JD Sports, after it agreed to purchase a total 15 brands from the sportswear retailer in December.
Cricket, Tessuti, Scotts, Giulio, and Choice are now all under the control of Frasers, the owner of brands such as Sports Direct, Flannels, and House of Fraser.
The acquisition of Rascal Clothing will no longer go ahead, while the group is expected to make a statement in due course regarding the incorporation of Topgrade Sportswear, the remaining brand of the 15 agreed in the December deal.
Frasers has already acquired Base Childrenswear, Clothingsites, Kids Cavern, Missy Empire, Nicholas Deakins, Pretty Green, Prevu Studio, and Watch Shop from JD Sports, who described the brands as “attractive, but non-core”.
The transaction was reportedly worth up to £47.5m, although this valuation may have fallen after Rascal Clothing was pulled from the deal.
A founder of Rascal Clothing exercised a pre-emption right agreed after JD acquired the brand in 2019, allowing them to purchase the brand outright from JD Sports with first refusal. As a result Rascal Clothing divested from JD Sports on February 6.