M&S interested in Jaeger partnership or purchase

As Marks & Spencer continues to work on overhauling its clothing strategy, the company reportedly held talks about stocking Jaeger in its stores before the start of the current English lockdown. And these have since widened to present the possibility of the company buying the label outright.

That's according to the Mail on Sunday, which cited sources saying that it had been involved in informal talks about a possible acquisition of the business as recently as last week.

The newspaper said that it's believed to have a hit list of at least 20 brands with which it would like to have close links, with Jaeger being one of them.

The company actually had the opportunity to buy the brand sone years ago but failed to act and it was acquired by Philip Day’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill group instead.

Jaeger is run by Day’s daughter Lauren and is up for sale, with a number of companies and individuals believed to be interested in buying it. They include previous Jaeger owner Harold Tillman, Frasers Group and Next. But there’s also the possibility that Day may decide to keep it.

If the MoS report is correct about M&S’s interest, and it didn’t eventually buy Jaeger outright, it could still mean it striking a potential partnership deal with any new owner of the label or with Day if the brand is retained within his group. But M&S told the newspaper that there’s currently “no formal process” linked to it buying or partnering with Jaeger

M&S is aiming to overhaul its fashion strategy as it seeks to lure back lapsed customers and attract new ones.

Earlier this month, it raised the prospect of selling multiple third-party brands, saying that it wanted to build a curated portfolio of such labels. It also announced link-ups with fashion label Nobody's Child and toy retailer Early Learning Group.

M&S interested in Jaeger partnership or purchase - report

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