As its woes mount, Esprit Holdings has released some good news and has said it’s “pleased to announce that the company has been in discussions with various interested third parties and recently received an oral indication from a potential investor” regarding a possible link-up.

All we know at the moment that it’s “an international private equity group with a strong track record”.

It said the unnamed potential investor will “submit a non-legally binding framework memorandum of understanding (MOU)… with the intention of carrying out a potential partnership with the company, in particular the European business”. 

It intends to “assist” Esprit to restructure the business in Europe and “collaborate with [it] to find a path to turn around the European business through its control of such business”.

It’s also interested in investing in the firm “to benefit from the future growth through the company’s strategic focus markets, including the North American and Asian markets”.

That’s probably the best news that has come out of the company for some time as its ambitious turnaround plan and restructuring clearly didn’t achieve its aims.

Most recently, earlier this week, it announced the bankruptcy of its Belgian activities. That came after it reported its 2023 result late last month with the year’s performance so bad that it admitted there was “significant uncertainty about the group’s ability to continue its operations”.

A few days earlier it had also filed for bankruptcy for its directly-operated network of stores in Switzerland.