ASOS PLC ASOS settles trade mark disputes (7660I)

TIDMASC

RNS Number : 7660I

ASOS PLC

02 September 2016

2 September 2016

ASOS plc

ASOS settles trade mark disputes

The Board of ASOS Plc ("ASOS") announces that it has reached a global settlement regarding trade mark infringement disputes with high-performance cycle wear manufacturer Assos of Switzerland GmbH ("Assos"), and German menswear retailer, Anson's Herrenhaus KG ("Anson's"). The disputes have resulted in several cases being heard in court, as well as multiple trade mark registry actions around the world.

Agreements have been entered into whereby ASOS is to pay a total of GBP20.2 million in cash, in a full, final and global settlement of all outstanding litigation with each of Assos and Anson's, securing a comprehensive co-existence for all parties.

The payment will be reported as an exceptional item at the year end.

Nick Beighton, CEO, commented:

"We are pleased to have put this litigation behind us. Entering into this settlement at this juncture is the right commercial decision for our business."

Management will host the following conference call to discuss the announcement:

Analyst/investor conference call at 08:00am:

 
 Dial-in UK:               0800 694 0257 
                           [phone] 
 Dial-in International:     566 
 Conference ID:            75436735 
 

For further information:

 
 ASOS plc                                          Tel: [phone] 
 Nick Beighton, Chief Executive Officer 
  Helen Ashton, Chief Financial Officer 
  Greg Feehely, Director of Investor Relations 
  Website: www.asosplc.com/investors 
 Instinctif Partners                               Tel: [phone] 
 Matthew Smallwood / Justine Warren / Guy 
  Scarborough 
 JPMorgan Cazenove                                 Tel: [phone] 
 Michael Wentworth-Stanley / Caroline Thomlinson 
 Numis Securities                                  Tel: [phone] 
 Alex Ham / Luke Bordewich 
 

Background note

ASOS is a global fashion destination for 20-somethings. We sell cutting-edge fashion and offer a wide variety of fashion-related content, making ASOS.com the hub of a thriving fashion community. We sell over 85,000 branded and own-brand products through localised mobile and web experiences, delivering from our fulfilment centres in the UK, US and Europe to almost every country in the world.

We tailor the mix of own-label, global and local brands sold through each of our eight local language websites: UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, and Russia.

ASOS's websites attracted 123 million visits during June 2016 (June 2015: 98 million) and as at 30 June 2016 had 12.0 million active customers(1) (30 June 2015: 9.7 million), of which 4.6 million were located in the UK and 7.4 million were located in our international territories (30 June 2015: 3.8 million in the UK and 5.9 million internationally).

(1) Defined as having shopped in the last twelve months

www.asos.com

www.us.asos.com

www.asos.de

www.asos.fr

www.asos.com/au

www.asos.it

www.asos.es

www.asos.com/ru

m.asos.com

marketplace.asos.com

likes.asos.com

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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September 02, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)