Ashley ups Asos stake to nearly 10% as takeover talk mounts
Ashley raises Asos stake for second time in a week: Fraser’s Group now owns nearly 10% as takeover talks heat up
Mike Ashley has increased his stake in Asos for the second time in less than a week, fueling speculation about the future of the troubled fast fashion retailer.
The Frasers Group company, whose stable of retailers includes Sports Direct and House of Fraser, now holds 9.9 percent of the shares, up from 7.4 percent at the start of the week. It follows an earlier investment on Tuesday.
Ashley’s nosedive has raised new questions about Asos, which is seen as a takeover target after a share price plunge of more than 90 percent in just over two years.
Reports have suggested it was approached in December by Alibaba-backed Turkish fashion company Trendyol about a potential £1bn bid.
Holding: Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, whose stable of retailers includes Sports Direct and House of Fraser, now owns 9.9% of shares in Asos
Asos, whose ownership of the Topshop brand is considered particularly attractive, is valued at just over £400 million.
Ashley is the third-largest shareholder, through Frasers, and his stake has pitted him against its biggest backer, Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen.
The UK’s largest individual private landowner, the Dane owns more than 20 pence and is rumored to be planning a takeover attempt.
Ashley, meanwhile, is known for targeting languishing high street and online businesses and has picked up Missguided, Jack Wills, Evans Cycles, and Flannels in recent years.
Russell Pointon, an analyst at Edison Group, said: “This loose approach has served Mike Ashley well in recent years, and Frasers has defied high street trends by opening stores as brands like Asos struggle to bounce back from their pandemic success. to win.’
If Ashley cut his stake to 10 percent, he could block a takeover because he would have a stake large enough not to sell under city rules.
Asos shares soared during the lockdown, although they failed to reach their peak in 2018.
But the stock has fallen as the store reopened and the rising cost of living weighed on its main customer base, aged 16 to 34.
It posted a loss of £291m in the six months to February 28, with City experts claiming the company needed to get its house in order.
Last month it raised £75 million to support its turnaround plan.