Manchester-headquartered fashion retailer Boohoo has bought the online divisions of Oasis and Warehouse for £5.25m.
The deal adds to Boohoo’s growing stable of brands, which includes MissPap, Karen Millen, Coast, Nasty Gal and Pretty Little Thing. It also marks the continuing trend of fashion moving from the High Street to online.
Oasis and Warehouse fell into administration on 30th April with 1,803 redundancies. The brand and stock were bought by Hilco Capital, which has now sold the assets to Boohoo.
The Manchester firm said it would integrate Oasis and Warehouse into its own platform to share infrastructure and a supply chain. Despite the physical store struggles that led to administration, last year Oasis and Warehouse booked £46.8m in direct online revenue, Boohoo said.
The company added that it would use its £197.7m May equity raise to explore further mergers and acquisitions.
Separately, Boohoo reported that trading had been “very strong” in the first quarter of this year, leading the group to predict “another year of strong profitable growth, and ahead of market expectations”.
Sales in the three months to 31 May leaped from £254m to £367.8m. UK sales were up 30% to £183m and in the US by 79% to £92m.
CEO John Lyttle said: “During unprecedented and challenging times, the group has delivered a very strong trading and operational performance.
“I am proud of how our colleagues and business partners from around the world have responded to ensure that we can safely bring to our customers the latest fashions, great value, fantastic prices and best in class service.
“Whilst there is a period of uncertainty within the markets in which we operate, the group is well-positioned to continue making progress towards leading the fashion e-commerce market globally.”
