Fashion: boohoo acquires Pretty Little Thing

The fast-fashion firm will pay £3.3m for 66 per cent of Pretty Little Thing, with the remaining 34 per cent being retained by the management team headed up by boss Umar Kamani.

Boohoo chairman Peter Williams said: “Pretty Little Thing was always going to be a natural fit with boohoo. Umar and his team are to be congratulated for creating a fantastic brand, which complements boohoo’s own.

“We believe this is an excellent opportunity to extend the group’s overall customer appeal.”

Revenues at Pretty Little Thing grew by more than 400 per cent to £17m last year and the company delivered revenue of £19m in the six months to August 31 2016.

Boohoo, meanwhile, said that its trading across the Black Friday weekend was strong and “peak season trading continues to be encouraging”.

The firm now expects to deliver revenue growth of between 38 per cent and 42 per cent for the full year, up from previous guidance of between 30 per cent and 35 per cent, while its earnings margin is also expected to grow by between 11 per cent and 12 per cent versus earlier estimates of around 11 per cent.