Boohoo.com eyes £16m takeover of US retailer Nasty Gal
Online retailer Boohoo.com looks like it’s about to embark on its second acquisition in less than a month, taking over US-based company Nasty Gal for £16.1m.
The Manchester-based brand has announced its part in the bidding process as the ‘stalking horse’ candidate, meaning that it has been selected by Nasty Gal to make the first bid.
Founded in 2006, Nasty Gal caters to the same target market as Boohoo - teenage girls and women in their 20s - generating sales of $77.1m in the year to the end of February 2016, but made a loss of $21m after tax leading it to file for bankruptcy in November.
The deal does not include vintage clothing and third party brands sold by Nasty Gal but will include all intellectual property assets, excluding operating costs.
Joint chief executive of Boohoo, Carol Kane, said acquiring Nasty Gal would help accelerate Boohoo’s international growth and allow the company to leverage its product development, supply chain and distribution expertise.
“Should we be successful in acquiring Nasty Gal it would represent a fantastic opportunity to add such a well-established, global brand to the Boohoo family,” said Kane.
Earlier this month Boohoo took over a 66% share of fast fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing for £3.3m.