Next has pulled out of plans to buy Arcadia’s Topshop.

In a statement, the retailer said it had “withdrawn from the process to acquire any or all of the Arcadia Group from the administrator”, adding “our consortium has been unable to meet the price expectations of the vendor”.

“Next wishes the administrator and future owners well in their endeavours to preserve an important part of the UK retail sector,” it added.

Other retailers that are in the race to purchase Topshop include Chinese online fashion retailer, Shein, and Authentic Brands. It is also thought that Asos and Boohoo are involved in the conversation.

Shein put an offer of £300m for Topshop and Topman, whilst it is running another process for some other of Arcadia’s brands.

Arcadia’s brands include Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Miss Selfridge and Burton. Evans has already been sold to City Chic Collective in a £23m deal.

Sir Philip Green bought Arcadia for £850m in 2002, Its collapse was one of the high streets biggest casualties, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.

Ian Grabiner, the chief executive of Arcadia, said in November when the group fell into administration: “This is an incredibly sad day for all of our colleagues as well as our suppliers and our many other stakeholders.

“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the forced closure of our stores for prolonged periods, has severely impacted on trading across all of our brands. Throughout this immensely challenging time, our priority has been to protect jobs and preserve the financial stability of the group in the hope that we could ride out the pandemic and come out fighting on the other side. Ultimately, however, in the face of the most difficult trading conditions we have ever experienced, the obstacles we encountered were far too severe.”