Authentic Brands Group has confirmed today (19 March) that high street fashion chain Ted Baker is to be placed into administration.
ABG – which has owned Ted Baker since 2022 – said that “damage done” during a tie-up with another company had been “too much to overcome”, BBC News reported.
Ted Baker stores will continue to trade and customer orders will be fulfilled, while ABG also said it is in “advanced discussions” with several potential buyers.
Ted Baker runs 46 stores, plus an e-commerce platform and department store concessions.
John McNamara, chief strategy and transition officer at ABG, said that Ted Baker’s holding company in the UK and Europe – No Ordinary Designer Label – had “built up a significant level of arrears” during a tie-up with Dutch firm AARC and the damage done “was too much to overcome”.
The partnership with AARC, which ran Ted Baker’s shops and online business in Europe, ended in January.
Ted Baker began as a menswear brand in Glasgow in 1987, and grew to have shops in the UK and US, as well as concessions in department stores. It also has licensing agreements in place for stores in cities in Asia and the Middle East.
It had also enjoyed success in the consumer products space and in 2016 won Best Licensed Fashion Brand at the Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards, while Portmeirion Group won Best Brand Licensed Home or Garden Product or Range for its Ted Baker The Fine Collection Rosie Lee.
Authentic owns brands including Reebok, Hunter and Juicy Couture, and bought Ted Baker two years ago in a £211m deal.
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