New Look ties up sale of French business MIM to Hong Kong firm Main Asia
New Look said yesterday it had completed the sale of its French business Mim to Chinese firm Main Asia without disclosing the terms of the deal.
Main Asia is a Hong Kong-based company established earlier this year to acquire Mim. Very little is known about the company except that the main shareholders and management are “active in apparel and textile manufacturing and trading” and have “significant experience in high-end brand management”.
Earlier this year, New Look was forced to write down £64.2m of Mim’s net assets, dragging the fashion retailer to a £55m pre-tax loss for the year to 29 March, down from a £3.1m profit the year before.
Although details of the deal were not disclose, the group it expected to recover “at least” the net assets of Mim it currently owns – typically property, stock and goodwill – when it confirmed the sale in September.
The retailer this month posted a jump in first-half profit to £26.1m thanks to its expansion in new markets such as China and Poland.