JD Sports rescues Pretty Green from administration

New York – JD sports, the UK’s largest athletic apparel retailer, has agreed to buy Liam Gallagher’s menswear label Pretty Green for an undisclosed sum.

As confirmed in a corporate statement Thursday, the struggling boutique men’s clothing brand has been sold to JD Sports following the appointment of Joint Administrators Nicholas O’Reilly and Simon Thomas from retail restructuring specialists Moorfields Advisory, on 28 March 2019.

The sale includes the business, brand, online and wholesale business as well as a flagship store in Manchester, securing the future of 67 employees. However, the remaining 11 stores and 33 House of Fraser concessions will cease trading immediately affecting 97 employees.

JD Sports’ deal hints “positive developments” for Pretty Green

Explaining the reasons behind this move, Peter Cowgill, executive chairman of JD Sports said: “We are pleased to have completed the acquisition of the highly regarded Pretty Green brand. We look forward to working with the team on future positive developments.”

To this regard, Thomas reiterated that, as the company’s administrators, they are “pleased to have secured the sale of the Pretty Green brand. We have worked hard over the last few weeks in challenging circumstances to secure the best outcome for the business, its creditors and its employees.”

What to expect for Pretty Green’s future? More wholesale and online sales, according to the Moorfields partner: “Pretty Green is a popular brand and received a considerable amount of interest. We are confident that JD Sports is the right fit for the business and will help to grow its online and wholesale channels.”

Challenging trading environment might accelerate market’s concentration in the UK

It’s worth recalling that Pretty Green went through a difficult 2018 “largely as a result of the House of Fraser administration impacting the concession business and the challenging retail environment, as many retailers struggled with increased costs and the shift to online retailing’, highlighted the administrators in statement.

As a result, a decade after its launch, Pretty Green called in administrators last week after appointing Moorfields to review strategic options for the future of the business earlier this year. According to the most recent accounts publicly available, Pretty Green increased sales by 32 percent to 38.2 million pounds last year and significantly reduced pre-tax losses to 1.5 million pounds, after a 5.6 million pounds loss in 2017.

Recently, the apparel industry in the UK has witnessed a series of deals that have led analysts to think further market consolidation is in the horizon with the likes of Sports Direct and JD Sports being at the fore front of this shift of paradigm. JD Sports already owns Millets, Blacks, Size? and Scotts, all of them rescued from administration or financial struggles, and is in the process of buying its smaller, ailing competitor Footasylum for circa 90 million pounds, according to ‘The Guardian’.

Image: ’Made in England’ collection, Pretty Green, official web