Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has increased its stake in Hugo Boss a month after a takeover approach was rebuffed by bosses of the German fashion brand.
The retail giant behind Sports Direct and House of Fraser said it had increased its shareholding to nearly 48% after putting the offer directly to investors, accelerating its push into the luxury market.
Last month, Frasers owned around 36% of Hugo Boss but launched a move to take full control of the brand.
It offered to pay around 1.98 billion euro (£1.73 billion) for the remainder of the business, which would have meant paying about 38 euro per share to shareholders.
However, Hugo Boss’s management and supervisory board said they felt the deal was “inadequate from a financial point of view” and recommended that shareholders do not accept it.
Last week Frasers put the offer directly to shareholders, with shareholders worth 17.6% of the company accepting the terms, meaning the majority opted against the offer price.
Speculation that Frasers could seek to take over the brand has grown since the company first started investing in 2020, and it has been slowly building up its stake.
Frasers’ chief executive Michael Murray is a member of Hugo Boss’s supervisory board as a result.
Stephan Sturm, chairman of the supervisory board of Hugo Boss, said: “We appreciate Frasers Group’s continued long-term commitment to Hugo Boss and look forward to maintaining a constructive relationship with them as our single largest shareholder.”
The move to buy more shares in Hugo Boss comes hot on the heels of Frasers’ acquisition of historic department store chain Harvey Nichols.
Harvey Nichols had gone under auction after warning in its latest accounts that it would need to “cease trading” within a year if it failed to secure new investment.
The rescue deal includes its six stores in Knightsbridge London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Edinburgh, as well as its online business, product inventory, and around 1,000 workers.
The acquisition by Frasers was part of the group’s so-called “elevation strategy” aimed at increasing its presence in the luxury market, building on growth of its Flannels brand.
Frasers is owned by Mike Ashley, a billionaire British businessman who is widely known for being the former owner of Newcastle United.
