Britain's M&S buys Jaeger brand

LONDON (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer has purchased the Jaeger brand from its administrators as part of a strategy to bolster its clothing division with new names, it said on Monday.

M&S said it was in the final stages of agreeing the purchase of product and supporting marketing assets from the administrators of Jaeger Retail Limited and expected to fully complete the deal later this month. No figures were disclosed.

Before going into administration Jaeger was part of Philip Day's Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group.

Last year, M&S chief executive Steve Rowe said the retailer would sell other brands to broaden the appeal of its business.

In September it partnered online with Nobody’s Child and has also collaborated with Ghost and most recently with Early Learning Centre.

“We have set out our plans to sell complementary third party brands as part of our Never the Same Again programme to accelerate our transformation and turbocharge online growth," said Richard Price, managing director of M&S's clothing and home division.

Last week, M&S, which also sells food, reported another big fall in sales of clothing and homeware in the Christmas quarter as COVID-19 restrictions hit demand and closed space, factors it said were masking progress made on its turnaround plan.

Shares in M&S closed Monday down 2.6%, extending year-on-year losses to 30%.

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Costas Pitas and Toby Chopra)