Harvey Nichols Acquired By Frasers Group in Pre-Pack Administration Deal

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group Plc acquired struggling Harvey Nichols out of insolvency, beating out rival retailer Next Plc for the storied British department store chain after it fell on hard times.

The owner of Sports Direct, Flannels and House of Fraser will take control of Harvey Nichols from longstanding owner Dickson Poon, according to a statement Thursday. It’s the latest deal for Frasers which has a patchy record on luxury takeovers.

The transaction includes Harvey Nichols’ 200,000-square-foot flagship store in London’s exclusive Knightsbridge district, which is just around the corner from its more famous department store rival Harrods. Harvey Nichol’s smaller stores in Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester, and Bristol are included in the deal together with the retailer’s online business and more than 1,000 employees.

Frasers’ swoop on Harvey Nichols has been structured as a pre-pack administration, a UK insolvency process where the sale of the company’s assets are negotiated before appointing administrators. These deals are often controversial because they write off unwanted debt, leaving creditors short-changed.

Harvey Nichols, a storied name in British retail, has grappled for years with rising costs, shifts to online shopping, and stiff competition from Harrods and Selfridges. Poon, the Hong Kong billionaire who has owned the chain for 35 years, appointed FTI Consulting several months ago to search for a buyer.

During its heyday in the 1990s, the store was a favourite of Princess Diana, and it gained popularity when it appeared in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.

Even as the retail landscape shifted, Harvey Nichols retained its cachet as a destination for luxury brands. In 2017, it secured the exclusive deal to sell pop star Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line in the UK. Two years later, the flagship store was featured in Channel 5’s series Inside, a fly-on-the-wall documentary about the daily running of the store and the lavish lifestyle of its shoppers.

Mixed Record

Harvey Nichols has struggled to turn a profit in recent years though. For the year ended March 2025, it made a £48.7 million ($65.7 million) loss, according to accounts filed on Sunday at UK registry Companies House.

Poon was separately found guilty of insider trading last month in a Hong Kong case involving an investment group he founded, Dickson Concepts.

Frasers has a mixed record investing in department stores, losing at least £150 million on Debenhams. Ashley reduced the high-street presence of House of Fraser to a handful of stores after buying the chain out of insolvency proceedings. Meanwhile, Matches Fashion collapsed in 2024, three months after Frasers bought the online luxury retailer.

Recently, the company has been making a wider push into luxury. Last month, it took a position in British brand Burberry Group Plc, and is the second-largest shareholder in handbag maker Mulberry Group Plc. Frasers is also the largest investor in Hugo Boss AG, where it pushed for change before launching a takeover offer.

Frasers was founded by Ashley, 61, who controls more than two-thirds of the company. It’s run by his son-in-law, chief executive officer Michael Murray.

By Maddie Parker