Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group Buys Back Matches’ Intellectual Property

LONDON — Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has repurchased the intellectual property and non-tangibles of luxury retailer Matches just two months after placing the company into administration.

In a brief statement to the London Stock Exchange on Monday, Frasers said it reached an agreement with Matches’ joint administrators to acquire “certain intellectual property assets only.”

Those assets are understood to be non-tangibles such as the trademark, domain names and databases of the store, which was once a fashion ecommerce giant competing alongside names including Net-a-porter, Mytheresa and Ssense.

With the IP in hand, Frasers has also granted a license to joint administrators Teneo, allowing them to operate the business until the stock in the warehouse and shops is cleared.

As reported, Matches has been offering deep discounts on thousands of items from a host of designers through its website and three London stores, in Mayfair, Marylebone and Wimbledon.

In the statement, Frasers said the IP purchase was completed “following an extensive marketing process” by the administrators. It means there were no other credible offers tabled for Matches.

Independent brands and suppliers stand to lose the most from the collapse of Matches and the subsequent purchase of the IP by Frasers.

According to Companies House, Matches’ unsecured creditors have estimated claims of nearly 36 million pounds, and “may” be able to claw back some of the money owed, although question marks remain over how much, and when. 

As reported, brands and suppliers have been tapping lawyers to help them recoup outstanding payments and warehouse stock from Matches, which Frasers placed into administration at the beginning of March. 

The Companies House filing also confirmed that the secured creditor is Sports Direct, another retailer owned by Ashley, and Matches employees. Those two groups have claims of 289,000 pounds.

The second preferential creditor is HMRC, the U.K. tax office, which has a claim of 1.2 million pounds.  

As reported, Frasers shocked the market by placing Matches into administration within months of purchasing it at a knockdown price of 52 million pounds.

At the time, Frasers said the company was too expensive to bankroll against a backdrop of dwindling demand for luxury goods and a persistent cost-of-living crisis.

Under English law, Frasers had every right to buy all or part of Matches back — without its debts. Industry experts say it’s perfectly normal for a secured lender of a business to be a bidder for the assets in administration, and it happens often.

Ashley specializes in buying distressed companies, and is often looking for stock to fill the stores in the Frasers portfolio, which includes multibrand fashion retailers Flannels, House of Fraser, 18Montrose and Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes.

Before Christmas, Frasers was reported to have been eyeing Browns, but more for the inventory than for the physical store. The London-based Browns was part of Farfetch, which was bought by Coupang last year as part of a distress sale.