Boohoo buys Oasis and Warehouse online businesses for £5.25M

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Online fashion retailer Boohoo has agreed to buy the online businesses of Oasis and Warehouse, for £5.25m.

Oasis Warehouse collapsed into administration in April with the loss of 1,800 jobs.

The brand and stock were bought by Hilco Capital, which has now sold the assets to Boohoo.

However, no buyer for the stores could be found, in another blow to the High Street, as the coronavirus lockdown accelerates a move of shoppers online.

The chains were forced to shut their 90 UK stores because of the coronavirus lockdown.

The group also had 437 concessions in department stores including Debenhams and Selfridges.

High Street retailers in the UK were facing a tough environment before the crisis, due to rising costs and changes in people’s shopping habits.

But the temporary closure of many shops due to the coronavirus pandemic has heaped more pressure on retailers.

Boohoo has been snapping up struggling brands in recent years, and Oasis and Warehouse join MissPap, Karen Millen and Coast in the company’s label stable.

Separately, Boohoo predicted “another year of strong profitable growth” which would outdo analysts’ expectations.

Commenting in the announcement John Colley, Associate Dean of Warwick Business School, said:  “Oasis and Warehouse are relatively weakly differentiated brands which have been struggling well before the Covid pandemic.

“Boohoo is picking up brands and remaining stock to sell online from the Administrator at negligible cost. It seems unlikely that Boohoo will invest in these brands and so it is probably to make money from selling end stock at a profit. If there should be reasonable demand then perhaps the brands will persist.”