H&M has bought a 60 per cent stake in Swedish fashion group Fabric Scandinavien, which operates store chains Weekday and Monki, for Skr564 million (£46.3 million).

Fabric Scandinavien also designs and sells its own brands, such as Cheap Monday, and will be run as a standalone subsidiary of the H&M Group. Fabric Scandinavien’s turnover for the financial year 2007/2008 is expected to reach approximately Skr400 million (£32.9 million).

H&M chief executive Rolf Eriksen said: “We have been impressed by Fabric Scandinavien’s development for a long time and we see a potential to develop stores and concepts in other markets. By working together, we can accelerate the growth further.”

Store chain Weekday is an urban unisex retailer, which has six stores in Sweden in Stockholm, Uppsala, Gothenburg and Malmo. This month, it will open its first store outside Sweden in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Monki’s demographic is mainly young women. It started in Gothenburg in 2006 and now has 12 stores in locations such as Stockholm, Uppsala and Malmo.

Its own-brand designs, under the Weekday Brands label, focus on the wholesale of young fashion. The largest brand is Cheap Monday, primarily a denim line. Cheap Monday sells fashion at good prices and is sold in more than 1,000 stores around the world.

Founders Adam Friberg, Lars Karlsson, Orjan Andersson and Linda Friberg will continue to work for the company.

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