Frasers Group in talks with Shein over possible Missguided buy

Frasers Group may be known as a serial acquirer of retail businesses but it’s also prepared to sell them and it’s currently in talks to sell Misguided, a report claims.

Sky News said that it’s talking to Shein about the latter buying the brand with the two in “detailed negotiations” that would see Shein buying — or partially buying — a British label for the very first time.

The talks are said to have gone on for several weeks but no details are available of when it might happen, plus how likely it is to happen (or not).

Shein, whose most recent funding round valued it at around $66 billion (£53 billion), is Singapore-headquartered and reportedly has ambitious to to list its shares in the US in the next year.

If the Frasers talks result in an agreement, it may not be as straightforward as Shein simply buying the Misguided brand. In August it struck a partnership deal with SPARC Group (a joint venture between Authentic Brands Group and Simon Property Group) to acquire a stake in SPARC and distribute the Forever 21 label on the Shein platform.

A source told Sky that a comparable partnership structure might be on the cards if a deal is struck with Frasers for Missguided.

Misguided went into administration last year and was bought by Frasers to add to its already-large portfolio that also includes Missy Empire and ISawItFirst.