Hogan Lovells and Fried Frank have stepped into the lead roles on high-street retailer Next’s £3.8m acquisition of family-owned footwear brand Russell & Bromley.
Next was advised by Fried Frank, which fielded a team led by London restructuring and insolvency partner Ashley Katz, assisted by associates Amy Faraday and Eshan Khot.
On the Russell & Bromley side, the Hogan Lovells team was led by London restructuring partner James Maltby with support from corporate finance partner Simon Grimshaw and counsel Camilla Eliott-Lockhart.
Fried Frank’s Katz brings significant experience of high-street restructurings to the mandate, having previously advised on deals involving British clothing retailer Jack Wills and furniture chain Bensons for Beds.
The pre-pack insolvency transaction includes the Russell & Bromley brand and associated intellectual property, valued at £2.5m, as well as a tranche of existing stock worth £1.3m. Next will also retain three of the 36 stores in the high-end locations of Chelsea, Mayfair and Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent. The future of the other 33 stores remains uncertain.
Russell & Bromley CEO Andrew Bromley said in a statement: ‘Following a strategic review with external advisers, we have taken the difficult decision to sell the Russell & Bromley brand. This is the best route to secure the future for the brand and we would like to thank our staff, suppliers, partners and customers for their support.’
The transaction is being overseen by CEO Will Wright and Chris Pole of Russell & Bromley’s administrators Interpath.
Founded in 1879 and a family business throughout, the premium footwear retailer is the latest in a series of struggling high-street chains to reassess its operations, following several years of reduced consumer spending and increased cost pressures.
The deal, however, cements Next’s position as a prolific buyer of distressed high-street brands, having built a strategy of acquiring the brand name while exiting on the loss-making estates. In 2023, it acquired Cath Kidston from administrators PwC for £8.5m, retailer Joules for £34m and clothing retailer FatFace for £115.2m in this way.
Next also holds a 72% majority stake in fashion retailer Reiss, having acquired an additional 34% interest in 2023 alongside the Reiss family in a £128m transaction that saw private equity firm Warburg Pincus exit its investment.
