Frasers Group has emerged as the frontrunner to take over Ted Baker’s British operations after it collapsed into administration, according to reports.

Sources said Frasers and administrators Teneo Financial Advisory are hoping to reach an agreement on a deal “in the coming days”, as first reported by Sky News.

If a deal is confirmed, Ted Baker will join Mike Ashley’s plethora of retail brands including Sports Direct, House of Fraser, Jack Wills, Flannels, Everlast and Slazenger, among others.

It is understood that Ted Baker’s parent company Authentic would “work closely” with Mike Ashley if Frasers is confirmed as the company’s new British partner.

Frasers Group declined to comment.

This comes after it was first reported in April that both Frasers Group and Next had contacted Teneo to “explore a sale of all or parts” of Ted Baker.

No Ordinary Designer Label, which trades under the Ted Baker brand, filed a notice of intention to appoint Teneo to lead the process of its UK operations in March.

It was confirmed last month that 15 Ted Baker stores would close their doors across the UK, resulting in 245 job losses at the fashion brand.

Teneo said at the time that all closing stores were loss-making and “deemed to have no prospect of being able to return to profitability even with material rent reductions”.

Shortly after the closures were announced, Sky News reported that Ted Baker’s North American licensing partner, OSL, was eyeing a takeover of its British operations but the business could not be reached for a comment.

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