Fashion giant Next has emerged as the leader in the race to salvage Topshop from the administration of the Arcadia brands.
The retailer is bidding to untangle the brand from the wreckage of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia empire in partnership with a US hedge fund, but faces stiff competition from the likes of Barneys department store owner Authentic Brands and JD Sports, as well as rumoured interest from Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group.
If successful, Next and hedge fund Davidson Kempner plan to appoint external managers to form a new joint venture to run Arcadia, with Next taking a minority stake, according to The Sunday Times.
Topshop’s ecommerce business would be managed by Next through its Total Platform model, set up by chief executive Lord Wolfson to run third-party brands.
While the brands bidding for Arcadia are believed to be predominantly interested in Topshop, The Mail on Sunday reported that Authentic Brands was also keen on picking up Miss Selfridge.
If the Authentic Brands bid is successful, there is speculation it could form a side deal with JD Sports to manage the Topshop store estate in the UK.
Final bids for Arcadia are due today and administrator Deloitte is aiming to finish the sale by the end of January.
Arcadia collapsed into administration in November last year with an estimated £350m hole in its pension fund.
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