Boohoo purchases Oasis and Warehouse for £5.25m

Online fashion company also owns Karen Millen and Coast

(AFP via Getty Images)

Boohoo has purchased Oasis and Warehouse after both brands went into administration in April, causing around 1,800 job losses.

The two fashion companies were initially bought by Hilco Capital after their collapse, but the online fashion brand has now purchased them.

Together, Oasis and Warehouse had 90 UK stores, all of which were forced to close in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Customers have not been able to place orders online at either store for several weeks now.

In addition to Warehouse and Oasis, Manchester-based company Boohoo has purchased a number of struggling fashion brands in recent years, including Karen Millen, Coast, and MissPap.

Boohoo is best known for its affordable clothing and its campaigns starring fashion influencers and former Love Island stars.

The company was founded in 2006 and, according to a YouGov poll conducted in May, is hugely popular with 18 to 24-year-olds, 11 per cent of whom had purchased something from Boohoo in the previous three months.

The research also found that interest in the brand has increased since lockdown started.

Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, told the BBC that Boohoo will need to refresh Oasis and Warehouse in order to make them appeal to younger consumers.

"It's up to Boohoo to rejuvenate them and hope they resonate well with its traditionally younger, more fashion-forward customer base," she said.

"It's a similar move to the Karen Millen and Coast acquisitions, but while we've heard trading's going well with these additions, we haven't had any numbers to crunch, so it's hard to say what the big picture looks like."