French Connection has been targeted with two takeover approaches from investment specialists looking at snapping up the troubled retailer.
The fashion brand told investors it received early proposals over deals after its shares surged by about 40% on Thursday amid market speculation.
Shares rose by 66% to 26p on Friday after the business made a statement about the approaches.
The company, which is valued at just over £15 million, said it received one approach from retail investor Spotlight Brands, with backing from restructuring and investment firm Gordon Brothers.
Spotlight has backed British brands including fitness-focused Sweaty Betty, while Gordon Brothers acquired the Laura Ashley brand last year following its administration.
French Connection said it has also received another potential proposal from brand investment platform Go Global Retail.
READ MORE: American dining giant to bring new brand to Glasgow
It said that discussions with both Spotlight and Go Global "remain at a very early stage".
"Accordingly, there can be no certainty that an offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made," the retailer said in a statement.
The fashion brand was founded by Stephen Marks in 1972 but has seen sales impacted by the turmoil on the high street in recent years, with the coronavirus pandemic adding to its woes.
In December, French Connection said it had seen "encouraging" sales after some stores were able to reopen, before the latest national lockdown came into force in January.
The takeover approaches come more than a year after French Connection called off plans to find a buyer following a year-long search.
A sale could also secure a payout for Mike Ashley, whose Frasers Group retail business owns an almost-25% stake in French Connection.
Revamped office expected to attract 'high-calibre' occupiers
An office building in central Glasgow featuring a basement gym and electric car-charging stations has been launched to the market, following a major refurbishment.
Opinion: Retail crisis is harbinger of wider challenges
Last week’s Scottish Budget was strikingly different from previous years. With Covid restrictions dominating day to day life and the unprecedented hit to the economy it’s hardly a surprise there was less build up and politicking ahead of the statement.
Sign up
You can now have the bulletin and the top business news stories sent direct to your email inbox twice-daily, and Business Week for the weekly round-up on Sunday:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/my/account/register/
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here