Next acquires assets including brand and IP of maternity retailer

Retail giant Next has acquired certain assets, including the brand and intellectual property, of maternity retailer Seraphine after the company fell into administration and ceased trading earlier this month.

Next has acquired the assets for £600,000 and has revealed that it plans to refocus the business on “creating stylish, practical solutions for new and expecting mums around the world”.

Founder Cécile Reinaud will remain with the business in an advisory capacity under its new owner following the takeover. Reinaud said that the new ownership “feels like a good fit” for the firm and that she was looking forward to “helping to restore the brand’s unique positioning”.

The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions of distressed major retailers that Next has completed over recent years as it has capitalised effectively on mounting financial challenges that have affected the retail sector since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many of these acquisitions see the firm take significant stakes in third-party brands, selectively targeting high value assets such as brand names and intellectual property. Once acquired, these brands typically operate independently while being integrated into Next’s Total Retail omnichannel platform.

Previous acquisitions have included the UK operations of lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret, a stake in high street chain Reiss, the UK online business of major rival Gap, the domain name and IP of furniture retailer Made.com and the brand name, domain name and IP of homeware retailer Cath Kidston.

Seraphine, whose customers included the Princess of Wales, had been trading since 2002, establishing itself as a leading UK maternity wear brand. The company operated through an online retail platform, a flagship store on Kensington High Street and through stockists, including Next and John Lewis.

However, it had experienced a turbulent period over the past few years. The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in July 2021, but struggled to meet investor expectations, ultimately being taken private once more by Mayfair Equity Partners in 2023.

In the year to March 31 2024, the company’s revenue fell to £32.6 million, from £40 million a year earlier, while post-tax losses increased to £10.1 million from £4.4 million.

Earlier this year, it relaunched its brand identity, but in early July was forced to enter administration and cease trading as a result of mounting cashflow challenges and an inability to secure a sale or refinancing.

Will Wright and Chris Pole of Interpath Advisory were appointed as joint administrators of the company on July 7, with the majority of Seraphine’s 95 staff being made redundant. The joint administrators subsequently concluded the sale of certain assets to Next, with Will Wright hailing the deal for preserving the Seraphine brand.

Buyers should bear some key factors in mind when acquiring intellectual property assets

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