Abercrombie & Fitch has drafted in an investment bank amid acquisition interest from retail rivals.
The US teen fashion business has hired Perella Weinberg Partners to handle takeover approaches, according to Reuters.
Abercrombie & Fitch’s shares have slumped to a 17-year low, leaving it vulnerable as an acquisition target.
The embattled retailer has struggled in recent years as its logo-stamped products gradually lost their fashion appeal amongst teenagers.
Abercrombie & Fitch, which has a market cap of $862m (£664.6m), operates almost 900 stores across the globe.
But the Ohio-based retailer’s operating income plummeted from $72.8m (£56.1m) in 2015 to just $15.2m (£11.7m) last year amid fierce competition from rivals including H&M and Inditex.
Abercrombie & Fitch has based its turnaround plans on the performance of its Hollister brand, which has recorded back-to-back years of flat like-for-like sales in stores, in comparison to the group-wide struggles.
The business is also downsizing its store portfolio as it seeks to cut costs. It revealed earlier this year that it would close around 60 of its US shops when their leases expire.
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