The online group Boohoo has entered exclusive talks to buy the final three Arcadia brands, as the breakup of Sir Philip Green’s collapsed fashion empire looks set to end in devastating job losses among its 13,000-strong workforce.

Manchester-based Boohoo confirmed it was in talks to buy Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton from Arcadia’s administrators. It was the second deal announcement in a week for the fast-growing company after it snapped up the Debenhams brand on Monday.

Rival online group Asos also confirmed this week it was closing in on a deal to buy Arcadia’s biggest brands, including Topshop, which is considered the jewel in the crown.

Neither Boohoo nor Asos, which are web-only, are expected to take on any of Arcadia’s 444 outlets that employ the lion’s share of its 13,000 employees. Some head office jobs could be saved if the new owners opt to retain staff employed in key areas such as buying and design.

A consortium that included Next, which offered hope that some high street jobs could be saved, pulled out of the auction.

The development comes days after Boohoo agreed to pay £55m for the Debenhams brand in a deal that will mean the chain’s remaining 118 high street stores will close with the expected loss of 12,000 jobs.

Arcadia has been the biggest high street casualty of the pandemic, which has triggered huge changes in shopping behaviour. The lockdowns forced high street stores to close for long periods of time, forcing shoppers to turn to the web to satisfy their needs.

The resulting job losses, in an industry that is the UK’s biggest private sector employer, have been devastating. According to the Centre for Retail Research, the UK high street shed 177,000 jobs in 2020, and a further 200,000 are expected to be lost this year. The British Retail Consortium says that over the past two years, one in every 50 outlets has permanently closed, and that this number “will only go up”.

“Boohoo Group confirms that it is in exclusive discussions with the administrators of Arcadia over the acquisition of the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands,” the company said. “These discussions may or may not result in agreement of a transaction. A further announcement will be made when appropriate.”

Boohoo has reportedly offered about £25m for the trio of Arcadia brands. The deal is expected to be similar to the Debenhams one, with all Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton outlets expected to close and few employees set to transfer over.

“Boohoo is rifling through the bargain bins once more,” said Susannah Streeter, a senior investment and markets analyst at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown. “Asos had turned its nose up at the trio of brands but Boohoo clearly believes there is still demand to be squeezed out of them. As an online-only fashion giant, Boohoo would only be interested in the brands, so the rescue of the famous names won’t throw a lifeline to the thousands of shopworkers who are very likely to still face redundancy.’’

Boohoo, which owns brands including PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal, has already taken advantage of the declining fortunes of once big high street chains, buying the Oasis, Coast and Karen Millen brands out of administration though not their high street stores.

The Arcadia brands being bought by Boohoo have not attracted as much buyer interest as Topshop but Andrew Wade, an analyst at the stockbroker firm Jefferies, said they were still well-known brands that had sales of £580m in 2018. “These acquisitions would be very much consistent with Boohoo’s successful approach to date, and we would view the brands as a good fit within the group, particularly given the recent Debenhams deal,” he said.

At the start of the week it was announced that Asos had entered exclusive talks to buy Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and the fitness brand Hiit. It is thought Topshop, Arcadia’s prime asset, could go for between £250m and £300m. The administrators have been seeking buyers for parts of Arcadia since it collapsed in November.

Evans, its plus-size clothing brand, was sold to City Chic Collective, an Australian retailer, for £23m and will become an online-only label.