Fusion sells JAG in bid to look good

Fusion Retail Brands, formerly the failed business of Colorado Group, is being polished up for sale by its private equity owners as a pure-play footwear retailer after it sold its clothing brand JAG for an undisclosed sum.

JAG will be sold to the Apparel Group, which also owns well-known fashion labels Sportscraft, Saba and Willow. The deal is subject to completion of due diligence.

Colorado Group went into administration in 2011 and was later rescued and restructured by private equity duo Ice Canyon and Anchorage Capital.

Fusion Retail Brands still owns Diana Ferrari, Williams, Mathers and Colorado, and its private equity owners are taking bids for buyers of the retail business.

Fusion Retail Brands chief executive Don Grover told BusinessDay the JAG brand did not fit in the company's fashion portfolio and it made sense to divest it as the group was also looking for a buyer for the whole business.

"I think the main reason is we are trying to find the right partners for our brands and the balance of our brands are all very footwear centric, whereas the JAG brand has less synergies," he said.