Monsoon and Accessorize founder Peter Simon has bought the two brands out of administration.
The retailers were placed into administration last night as a result of having to close all 230 of their shops during the coronavirus pandemic.
Simon, who acquired the retailers through his Adena Brands business, will now enter talks with landlords to save as many as 100 stores from the portfolio.
As part of the acquisition Simon has agreed to inject up to £15m into the business. Last year he ploughed £12m into the business as part of the CVA process it went through.
“Ever since I opened the first Monsoon store in Beauchamp Place in 1973, this business has been my passion and my life, and I did not want to see it fall victim to this unprecedented crisis,” said Simon. “Both Monsoon and Accessorize were trading well before the coronavirus pandemic but the business simply could not withstand the financial impact of having to close all its UK, franchise and joint venture stores for almost three months
“This deal secures the future of both Monsoon and Accessorize and means we can continue to serve our customers online without a pause. In addition, we will now try to save as many of our stores as possible, depending on the outcome of various discussions with landlords. I would like to thank landlords for the helpfulness and enormous forbearance they have shown so far, which has enabled us to get to this point.”
The administration process was handled by FRP Advisory.
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