The British retail group Frasers Group Plc has lost patience with its online fashion platform Matches less than three months after its takeover. On Friday morning, the group announced that Matches would be placed under insolvency administration, confirming previous media reports.
Since the takeover shortly before Christmas, Matches has “consistently missed the targets set out in the business plan” and “continued to make significant losses” despite the group’s support, Frasers Group said in a statement.
The planned restructuring of matches failed
“Although the Matches management team has attempted to find a way to stabilize the business, it has become clear that a restructuring would have required too many changes and the ongoing financing needs would go well beyond the amounts that the group considers practical,” shared the group of companies.
Against this background, the managers of Matches decided to file for insolvency for the company. Despite the move, Frasers Group will continue to focus on the luxury fashion market and its partner brands, the statement said.
The Frasers Group only took over Matches last December
The group, which includes retail chains such as Sports Direct, House of Fraser and Flannels, had the Matches platform, which operated as Matchesfashion until autumn 2022, together with the associated companies and their liabilities last December for a total of around 52 million British people pounds (60 million euros). The previous owner was the company MF Intermediate Limited, which was backed by the investment house Apax Partners. With the acquisition, Frasers Group wanted to strengthen its presence in the luxury fashion segment.
Matches was already in the red before the takeover and suffered from a loss in sales. The Frasers Group had announced that it wanted to renovate the platform, among other things, by using synergy effects and a new strategy. This project now appears to have failed.