Luxury goods group Richemont is understood to be looking to sell its Hackett menswear business and has been approached by potential buyers over a deal. Richemont, which also owns Chloe, Mont Blanc, Cartier, Dunhill and others, is said to have received more than one approach for Hackett over the past few months and is now ready to sell.

Richemont acquired Hackett in 1992. It has been in the media spotlight this month because of its sponsorship of England rugby star Jonny Wilkinson and the England team during the Ruby World Cup. The latest available figures for Hackett were for the year ended March 31 2002 when turnover was GBP19.7 million, although it made a loss of GBP2.8m after restructuring costs his its bottom line. Richemont group turnover for 2002/3 was GBP2.6 billion.