Boohoo has reportedly bought the Debenhams Brand and website for £55m, saving them from going into administration.
Boohoo's co-founder is Mahmud Kamani and his son, Umar Kamani runs sister online retailers, PrettyLittleThing. The family started selling items such as handbags on a stall in Manchester and today, they own global brands worth over £3.5bn.
The Kumani family are now adding other brands to their huge empire. They reportedly want to expand to goods like homeware and beauty with Debenhams posing the best option for this.
Boohoo aims to transfer the Debenhams website to theirs, early 2022, with Debenhams still permitted to sell on their current website for an agreed period of time.
It's not all good news.
Although Debenhams will no longer be going into administration, their 124 stores will be forced to close as Boohoo did not choose to acquire them, in this deal. This means around 12,000 employees will lose their jobs, once this transfer is complete.
So, the brand is saved but not the employees.
Debenhams has stated that this was the best possible deal for their stakeholders, giving the current circumstances.
In recent times, Boohoo has come under fire for being a fast fashion enterprise, with unethical practices such as severely underpaying warehouse staff, who make their garments. However, they still seem to thrive throughout this pandemic, evidenced through huge cash giveaways on social media and documented lavish lifestyles on social media.
What are your thoughts on Boohoo acquiring Debenhams?