British fashion retailer French Connection, known for its FCUK quote, has sold its Toast subsidiary to Danish clothing group Bestseller, which also owns brands like Vero Moda and Jack & Jones.
Danes own British lifestyle brand
Bestseller will pay 26.77 million euro (23.3 million British pounds) for Toast Limited. In return, founding duo Jamie and Jessica Seaton’s stake (25 %) and French Connection Group’s stake (75 %) will transfer to Bestseller. Estimates are that French Connection will receive about 13.9 million British pounds (16 million euro).
The acquisition will strengthen Danish Bestseller’s position in the European fashion market: lifestyle brand Toast, founded in 1997, has 13 stores in the United Kingdom and is also sold both online and in John Lewis’ department stores. The premium brand has women’s clothing, accessories, nightwear and interior design elements in its collection.
“Impressed by the company “
“We are proud to welcome Toast into our Bestseller family”, Bestseller owner Anders Holch Povlsen said. “Being fashion retailers, the company has impressed us for quite some time and our talks to the management team have confirmed its potential and have confirmed our belief that it is a sold company with strong values and wonderful people.”
Toast managed a 19 million British pound (21.8 million euro) turnover in the past fiscal year (up until January 2018). Its profit stood at 1.5 million pounds. The British retailer will operate independently within Bestseller, with its main offices in the United Kingdom and its current workforce.
