Plus-sized fashion retailer City Chic is salvaging UK brand Evans from the collapse of Topshop-owner Arcadia Group, the business announced on Monday morning.

The $41 million deal for the 90-year-old Evans business, which will be funded entirely from City Chic’s cash reserves, includes only its online and wholesale assets and will aid the wider group launch into the UK by providing a stable foundation and customer base.

“I have followed Evans for over a decade and seen how within Arcadia’s portfolio the brand has evolved from a dominant high street retail into a more digitally focused business,” said City Chic CEO Phil Ryan.

“In addition to providing a launching pad into a new market, we are confident we can deploy our lean, customer-centric operating model to drive revenue growth and cost efficiencies in the existing business.

“We have a great opportunity ahead of us to develop the third major region for the City Chic Collective.”

Last year the Evans business generated over BR60 million of annual sales, before the impact of Covid-19, with almost half of direct-to-consumer sales coming from its online segment.

This is the latest in a string of international acquisitions made by City Chic in the last few years, having also purchased US-based businesses Avenue and Hips & Curves.

Update: This story originally said City Chic had purchased US brand Catherines, however this is not accurate. City Chic bid for the business but was ultimately unsuccessful.