Next says not looking for majority stake in Arcadia Group

Retailer Next said on Tuesday that it was part of a consortium bidding for some of the brands owned by Philip Green’s collapsed Arcadia Group.

In an interview with Reuters, Next chief executive Simon Wolfson said the company was not looking to take a majority stake in Arcadia.

The retail group, which owns Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Wallis, went into administration in November, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.

Earlier on Tuesday, Next released a trading statement for the Christmas period, which showed that sales fell less than it expected, with a strong performance from the online segment.