This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
BRITISH giant Arcadia Group, the brand owner of Topshop, has agreed buy and operate the Australian Topshop and Topman businesses as part of a restructure.
Ferrier Hodgson partners Ryan Eagle, James Stewart and Jim Sarantinos, acting as the administrators of Austradia, trading as Topshop and Topman in Australia said an agreement will see UK multinational acquire the Australian retail business.
Despite the backing of department store giant Myer, Austradia Pty Ltd, a company founded by retail king Hilton Seskin, was placed in administration in May this year amid mounting debts.
The investment hit Myer which last month revealed that it had to write off its 20% investment of $6.8 million. Myer initially bought a 25% stake in Austradia for $9.8 million.
The administrators an agreement has been reached where Arcadia Group will acquire certain assets including four retail stores located at Gowings and Bondi Junction in Sydney, Emporium in Melbourne and Brisbane City.
“The Administrators are delighted with the outcome of our discussions with Topshop / Topman as it finalises a successful restructure and rightsizing of the business in Australia,” Eagle said.
“Throughout this process we have considered the optimal operational structure of the business, ensuring the brand will continue in the local market and to preserve a significant number of jobs within the business,” he added.
Topshop and its brother label Topman operate nine stand-alone stores, 17 Myer concessions and an on-line business in Australia. The largest is the flagship 2,732 sqm store in Emporium, owned by Vicinity Centres.
The other stores include Highpoint, Jam Factory owned by Newmark Capital, Gowings Building at 49 Market St in Sydney, Westfield Chatswood, 160 Albert St Brisbane, 207 Murray St Perth and Rundle Mall in Adelaide, just to name a few.
Topshop has closed five of its nine standalone stores nationwide since going into administration in late May. These were headlined by the closure of the Chapel Street site in South Yarra, which was the first outlet for the label in Australia in 2011. Also closed are the Chatswood and Miranda shopping centre stores in New South Wales, Perth and at Highpoint shopping centre in Melbourne.
“We are excited to operate directly in the Australian market and look forward to delivering unparalleled fashion to our customers. We are delighted to be offering more than 290 jobs within the Australian market at Topshop and Topman,” a Topshop spokesperson said.
Australian Property Journal
