Boohoo snaps up Debenhams for £55m; Asos in exclusive talks to buy Topshop – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news as online retailers swoop in on two of Britain's major high street brands

2.56pm GMT

We started Monday morning with news that online retailers Boohoo and Asos are swooping in on two of Britain's major high street brands:

2.33pm GMT

US markets are open for trading and the Nasdaq had already hit a record high.

U.S. markets open higher https://t.co/LiUQbJIBO3 pic.twitter.com/Tq2QIn34dL

2.24pm GMT

Chinese President Xi Jinping has used his speech at the digital Davos meeting to call for greater global cooperation, and - without naming names - warn that countries that decide to go-it-alone will always fail"

We should build an open world economy ... discard discriminatory and exclusionary standards, rules and systems, and take down barriers to trade, investment and technological exchanges.

To build small circles or start a new Cold War, to reject, threaten or intimidate others, to wilfully impose decoupling, supply disruption or sanctions, and to create isolation or estrangement will only push the world into division and even confrontation.

We cannot tackle common challenges in a divided world, and confrontation will lead us to a dead end.

1.59pm GMT

BREAKING: Mike Ashley's Frasers Group have announced they will close the House of Fraser store at the Jenners building in Edinburgh in May, leading to 200 job losses, according to Reuters.

1.43pm GMT

Cineworld has been dealt a blow after nearly a third of investors voted against a controversial pay plan for its senior bosses.

We acknowledge that there were a significant number of votes cast against the plan and the board will continue to engage with shareholders on remuneration matters in the coming months in light of the feedback received during our consultation.

1.20pm GMT

The economic blow from Covid-19 has cost workers around the world $3.7tn (2.7tn) in lost earnings, after the pandemic wiped out four times the number of working hours lost in the 2008 financial crisis, according to the UN's labour body.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) said women and younger workers had borne the brunt of job losses and reductions in hours, and warned that people in sectors hardest-hit by the crisis - such as hospitality and retail - risked being left behind when the economy recovers.

Related: Covid-19 has cost global workers $3.7tn in lost earnings, says ILO

1.07pm GMT

Stocks have fallen further in the past two hours, with most major indices down more than 1%, as the prospect of extended or tougher Covid lockdowns threatens economic growth in the short term.

It would appear that European markets are not enjoying the benefits of the Biden spending hopes like their US counterparts as restriction fears are the dominant story on this side of the Atlantic.

There has been little in the way of fresh news to spark excitement. Last week, US stocks set fresh records on account of President Biden's stimulus plans, which influenced the positive moves we saw in Asia overnight but the mood is a little duller in this part of the world.

France already has tough restrictions in place but there is speculation the country is heading for a renewed lockdown.

12.22pm GMT

Retail trade union Usdaw is seeking urgent meetings with Debenhams' administrators and calling on the government to do more to save high streets after the failed department store said it would close all stores following the brand's sale to Boohoo.

Dave Gill, Usdaw National Officer, said:

It is devastating news for our high streets that Debenhams' administrators have sold the company brand to an online only retailer.

Throughout Debenhams' difficulties the company and then administrators have refused to engage with Usdaw, the staff are being treated appallingly.

12.07pm GMT

Springboard data released this morning shows that footfall across UK retail destinations (at least the ones that are open during lockdown) rose 9% in the week to 23 January.

Despite rain and snow last week across much of the UK, footfall rose in retail destinations last week from the week before for the first time in five weeks; perhaps providing the first indications of lockdown fatigue emerging once again.

The last rise in footfall was in the peak Christmas trading week beginning 13th December, and even then the rise was only a third as large as last week's; since then there has been a double digit drop in footfall in each week.

11.58am GMT

Gordon Fletcher of the University of Salford Business School says the Boohoo deal is proof that shoppers are becoming less tied to the brick and mortar presence of their favourite brands:

A very clear message is being broadcast. Brands are still important. Brands have credibility and reputation.

Consumers have strong emotional connections with brands. However, the importance of the bricks and mortar traditionally associated with retail brands has now fully waned.

11.20am GMT

The FT's retail correspondent Jonathan Eley reflects on how fortunes have changed for Boohoo, Asos, Debenhams and Arcadia over the past 15 years:

Quite a year, was 2006:
- Boohoo was founded and registered as "Wasabi Frog"
- Asos annual revenue reached a princely 19.7m
- Debenhams returned to the stock market with a 1.7bn valuation
- Philip Green was knighted for services to the retail industry

11.13am GMT

Wall Street looks like it may ignore the direction of travel across European stocks and instead follow Asian indices higher on the back of US stimulus hopes:

10.52am GMT

A raft of European indices, which opened in positive territory at the market open, have since tumbled into the red.

The FTSE 100 is down nearly 0.3%, with British Airways owner IAG one of the biggest fallers down 7.3%. Its shares are surely not being helped by speculation about tighter travel restrictions.

10.36am GMT

More news out of Germany this morning, after data showed a dip in business confidence in January.

10.15am GMT

British footwear brand Dr Martens has said it is looking to raise up to 1.3bn from its pending London listing, as it plans to put 35% of its shares on the public market.

Reuters is reporting that the price range of the IPO would be between 330p and 370p per share. It would value the company at roughly 3.5bn.

Related: Dr Martens bosses and backers set for huge windfall in 3.5bn float

9.50am GMT

Online fashion retailer Asos is in exclusive talks to buy a number of the UK's best-known high street brands including Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge.

Related: Asos in talks to buy Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge

9.37am GMT

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Boohoo and Asos are likely to benefit from a strategy that involves cherry picking" brands and assets from collapsed the Debenhams and Arcadia Group.

And for Boohoo, it could be its big break. The company has been trying to reclaim its reputation after an investigation by the Guardian revealed last year that workers in parts of its supply chain in Leicester may be being paid as little as 3 to 4 an hour. So bosses are likely to be relieved that investors are pushing stocks higher this morning.

Boohoo aims to break into the retail big time with this deal. It marks quite a journey for the company which started as a fast fashion upstart and is now turning into a sprawling empire, by scooping up household names which have fallen into distress.

Showing just how far the once mighty have fallen, boohoo has only had to dip a little into its deep cash pockets to snap up the department store chain's most precious assets. It's paying 55m from its available cash balance which stood at 386.9m at the end of 2020.

9.18am GMT

DATA UPDATE: Germany's Ifo Index shows a drop in business confidence in January.

The index dropped to 90.1 compared to consensus estimates for a reading of 91.8.

9.11am GMT

ITV's business and economics editor notes how Lyttle has dodged questions about how many Debenhams jobs might be saved:

Boohoo's CEO avoids a question about how many of the 12,000 people who work at Debenhams will join Boohoo. It won't be very many, if any.
John Lyttle is buying the website, its brands, it's 400m of annual sales. He does not want any of Debenhams' stores or its warehouse.

8.56am GMT

Lyttle says Boohoo will start reaching out to some of Debenham's suppliers and partners in the coming days, to sort out whether they will maintain their ties with the brand following the takeover:

In terms of the third party relationships, we'll be looking to work with the existing third party partners who are working with debenhams.com, and obviously we will be starting those conversations this week.

8.44am GMT

Boohoo CEO John Lyttle is giving a presentation to analysts on the Debenhams deal.

He seems to be leaving the door open for further deals as opportunities arise. It might not take long for more brands to come up for sale, as the high street continues to be battered by Covid lockdowns and the major shift to online shopping.

This [Debenhams deal] will be funded from our existing cash reserves, which stood at 387m on 31 of December, leaving a significant remaining cash balance to support further M&A opportunities as they arise

The administrator will continue to operate the website for the next couple of months, while the inventory clears. And then we anticipate moving debenhams.com onto our platform to go live can just a couple of months.

8.36am GMT

My colleague Mark Sweney has the full Debenhams story, here:

Related: Debenhams to close all stores with job losses as Boohoo buys brand for 55m

8.28am GMT

The World Economic Forum's annual meeting has had to ditch the Swiss mountains of Davos and move online this year.

Organisers have still managed to line up some heavy hitters, with tomorrow's* programme featuring European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, German chancellor Angela Merkel and and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.

8.09am GMT

Investors are jumpin gon Boohoo shares following the Debenhams announcement, pushing its stock price up 3.7%tot 348.7p per share.

8.04am GMT

European markets are broadly higher at the start of trading.

The FTSE 100 is up 0.2%, while the more domestically focused FTSE 250 is up more than 0.5%.

8.00am GMT

Boohoo is set to hold an investor and analyst call around 8:30am, so we'll bring you updates as we get them. Stay tuned.

7.57am GMT

Boohoo's executive chairman Mahmud Kamani is hoping the Debenham's deal will give his group an edge in new areas including beauty, sport and homeware:

Our ambition is to create the UK's largest marketplace. Our acquisition of the Debenhams brand is strategically significant as it represents a huge step which accelerates our ambition to be a leader, not just in fashion eCommerce, but in new categories including beauty, sport and homeware.

The acquisition of the Debenhams brand is an important development for the group, as we seek to capture incremental growth opportunities arising from the accelerating shift to online retail.

We have developed a successful multi-brand direct-to-consumer platform that continues to disrupt the markets that we operate in.

7.47am GMT

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

We start this chilly Monday morning with news that online retailers Boohoo and Asos are swooping in on two of Britain's major high street brands.

The board believes this would represent a compelling opportunity to acquire strong brands that resonate well with its customer base.

However, at this stage, there can be no certainty of a transaction and ASOS will keep shareholders updated as appropriate. Any acquisition would be funded from cash reserves.

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