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Topshop Oxford Street flagship site valued at £420m

Lauretta Roberts
04 May 2021

Topshop's Oxford Street flagship site is on the market for £420m as the dismantling of Sir Philip Green's Arcadia empire draws to a close.

The site, which is arguably the most desirable retail site in the capital, is also home to Nike Town and Vans. It is being marketed by Eastdil Secured on behalf of administrators KPMG.

214 Oxford Street had been owned by Arcadia's property arm Redcastle, which was also placed into administration along with its retail brands at the end of November last year. Deloitte handled the administration of the brands, from Topshop to Wallis, which were all sold off without any stores.

The Oxford Street store was a prize asset and, for a while, it seemed that ASOS, which acquired the Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge brands, might seek to secure the lease to keep the store operating as a Topshop, though it made it clear it was not interested in buying the site.

Those in the frame to purchase the site, according to The Times, include H&M billionaire Stefan Persson’s vehicle Ramsbury; Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges; Pontegadea, the property business of Zara founder Amancio Ortega; and Great Portland Estates.

The site was valued at more than £500m two years ago and carries a hefty mortgage from US investor Apollo, who will be guaranteed more than £300m from the sale. The remainder of any funds raised will be ploughed into Arcadia's pension fund to help fill the deficit, which currently stands at £185m.

"Big Topshop" as it was affectionately known was a trailblazer in experiential retail, opening in the 90s, and was one of the first fashion retailers to incorporate things like DJ booths and beauty services into a retail store.

The 1923 listed site began life as a Peter Robinson department store before the Burton group bought it. Topshop, initially a spin-off of Peter Robinson, moved into the basement in 1965 (it was established as a standalone brand in 1974) and the three-floor site became the Topshop flagship in 1994.

Arcadia was plunged into administration at the end of November, having failed to secure funds to see it through the Covid-19 crisis. While ASOS, snapped up its flagship brands, Boohoo acquired Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis, while Australian firm City Chic Collective acquire Evans. No stores were saved as part of the deals.

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