Both Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct, and Next were reported to be eyeing separate deals with the chain following its administration.
According to Sky News, Frasers had been discussing a deal with Authentic that would have also included Reebok, which it also owns.
A deal with Mike Ashley would have seen Ted Baker join the likes of Flannels, Sofa.com, Game and Jack Wills in Frasers’ portfolio of brands.
Ted Baker was founded in Glasgow in 1988 by the entrepreneur Ray Kelvin, who named the brand after his “alter ego”, described at one point by the company as an “all-round sportsman and the consort of princesses and Hollywood beauties”.
Mr Kelvin steered the company’s listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1997 but was forced to step down in 2019 amid claims he acted inappropriately towards colleagues, allegations he denied.
A string of profit warnings and further executive departures followed, with the pandemic heaping economic pressure on the business. The company left the stock market in 2022 when it was bought by Authentic in a £211m deal.
Before the collapse of NODL, Ted Baker employed around 1,000 people in the UK across 46 stores.
Ted Baker’s administrators at advisory firm Teneo declined to comment. Frasers and Authentic were contacted for comment.