Fast-fashion brand In The Style could be set to return to the London Stock Exchange after a possible takeover deal was revealed.
The Manchester-headquartered business had floated on AIM in March 2021 with a market capitalisation of £105m but was forced to sell itself for just £1.2m to avoid collapsing into administration two years later.
Now the company, which was founded by Adam Frisby in 2013 from his bedroom with £1,000 in redundancy money, has entered into a non-binding heads of terms with Iconic Labs.
ITS Holdings 2023 Ltd, which is owned by Baaj Capital LLP, holds the entire issued share capital of In the Style Fashion Ltd.
If completed, the transaction would constitute a reverse takeover under the listing rules.
In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange, Iconic Labs, said: “As the company is currently unable to provide full disclosure under Listing Rule 5.6 in relation to the target, suspension of trading will continue until such time as a prospectus is published in relation to the proposed acquisition or the company announces that the discussions have been terminated.
“No binding agreement has been reached and, accordingly, the directors of Iconic cannot guarantee that the proposed transaction will complete or provide any indication of a likely completion date.”
In January this year, City A.M. revealed that In The Style’s revenue fell from £57.3m to £45.9m in the 12 months to March 31, 2023. Its wholesale revenue was cut from £12.6m to £6m while e-commerce fell from £44.6m to £39.9m.
The results also show that its pre-tax losses widened from £1.5m to £7.7m over the same period.
Brad Taylor, chief executive of Iconic, said: “We are delighted to have entered into a heads of terms to acquire ITS Holdings 2023 Ltd.
“This transaction has been one of multiple opportunities carefully considered by the board of Iconic and we believe this proposed acquisition meets our objectives and wider strategy of fostering long-term growth and value for our shareholders.”
Iconic Labs, which is headquartered in London, was established as WideCells Group in 2018 and was based in Manchester.