Marks and Spencer has bought upmarket fashion brand Jaeger out of administration in a £5m deal.
The High Street giant is taking on the Jaeger brand and stock which it will sell in M&S stores and online.
But none of the remaining 67 Jaeger stores will be saved – putting hundreds of jobs at risk.
Upmarket: The deal is M&S’s first fashion acquisition since it bought Per Una from designer George Davies for £125m in 2004
The deal is M&S’s first fashion acquisition since it bought Per Una from designer George Davies for £125m in 2004.
Jaeger was founded in 1884 – the same year as M&S – on the principles of Dr Gustav Jaeger.
But it collapsed last autumn.
It was put into administration alongside sister firm Peacocks in November by its Dubai-based billionaire owner Philip Day.
Richard Price, head of M&S’s clothing and home business, said the acquisition was part of its plan to revive the struggling division.
‘In line with this, we have bought the Jaeger brand and are in the final stages of agreeing the purchase of product and supporting marketing assets from the administrators,’ he said.
In November M&S posted a pre-tax loss of £87.6m for the first time in its history.