US retailer Abercrombie & Fitch may be interested in acquiring trendy fashion retailer SuperGroup, City speculators believe.

The trader talk was doing the rounds yesterday the Evening Standard reported, but industry observers were sceptical.

Shares in SuperGroup, which floated last year and subsequently rocketed, have fallen lately on fears of a sales slowdown and debate about the longevity of appeal of the retailer’s flagship Superdry brand.

Arden analyst Nick Bubb said speculation about an Abercrombie & Fitch deal sounded like “a rather desperate yarn to discomfort the shorts”.

He said: “Management control 64% of the stock and everything depends on their attitude.

“We read chief executive Julian Dunkerton as somebody keen to prove his doubters wrong and go on to drive Superdry on to be a global brand rather than somebody who will give up on plc life and just be absorbed into a US group.”

SuperGroup is hosting an analysts’ visit on Monday which is likely to be crucial to City sentiment on the retailer.

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