Next Plc has agreed to buy fashion and homeware brand Cath Kidston after the chain collapsed into administration in another casualty of Britain’s cost-of-living crisis.

The retailer will pay £8.5 million ($10.5 million) for the brand and isn’t buying its remaining stock of goods, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified.

The four remaining stores are expected to close and 125 staff will be kept to sell off remaining inventory before being let go, according to a statement from the administrator, PwC.

Cath Kidston, known for its floral and polka dot patterns, has been owned by specialist retail investor Hilco Capital for less than a year.

The valuation shows the extent to which the brand has declined since Cath Kidston herself sold a stake in the company over a decade ago in a deal reported at the time to be worth around £100 million.

For Next, it’s the latest in a series of acquisitions as the retailer adds more brands to its offering. Next bought fashion chain Joules and furniture brand Made.com out of insolvency late last year.

Cath Kidston “has over recent years navigated through incredibly challenging market conditions including the pandemic restrictions, and most recently the decline in consumer spending driven by cost of living pressures and rising costs,” Zelf Hussain, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said in the statement.

By Sabah Meddings and Katie Linsell

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