Aurora Fashions revives talks to sell Coast

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Sep 17, 2018

The Swedish owner of Coast, Aurora Fashions, is again in talks about a potential sale of the womenswear brand after being impacted by House of Fraser’s collapse in August.

Aurora Fashions came close to selling its three brands, including Coast, Oasis and Warehouse to Indian Investor Emersique Brands last year but ended up calling off the potential sale after it emerged there was an international arrest warrant on its Indian founder.

But according to Sky News, the recent collapse of House of Fraser has sparked Aurora Fashions, owned by Icelandic Bank Kaupthing, to contact potential buyers about a possible sale.

Coast operates a significant number of concessions at House of Fraser stores, which were acquired by Sports Direct in August hours after the chain fell into administration. The brand is owed millions of pounds, however House of Fraser’s new owner has no legal obligation to pay suppliers money owed before the acquisition.  

This has put Coast in a difficult situation, with the formalwear label in need of fresh funding to ensure its future.

In the year to 25 February 2017, the company reported a modest increase in profits to £2.7m. It was the brand’s best performance in five years.

A Coast spokeswoman told Sky News: “We have been working with PwC on a potential sale on an ongoing basis for the past 18 months, so this is nothing new but merely a continuation of the process.”