According to news, an agreement to buy White Stuff and invest in its future growth is almost finalized by the South African retailer The Foschini Group (TFG).
According to sources, a deal might be reached in a matter of days, giving the chain’s two founders a sizable payoff.
They added that several other parties had also been pursuing White Stuff in recent months and warned that a formal deal had not yet been made.
Hobbs and Damsel in a Dress is also owned by Foschini, which has a British subsidiary called TFG London.
On Wednesday night, it was unclear what price was being discussed, notwithstanding earlier news reports.
Founded in 1985 by George Treves and Sean Thomas, White Stuff has grown into a high-end fashion company with over 100 stores.
It has almost 1,200 employees.
It was uncertain if they would reach an agreement in time to prevent any capital gains tax hikes that chancellor Rachel Reeves would impose in her budget the following week.
