Frasers Abandons Mulberry Bid, Begins Pursuit of Boohoo Group

LONDON — It’s been a frenetic 24 hours for Mike Ashley‘s Frasers Group, which has abandoned its pursuit of Mulberry, and shifted its attention to the struggling fast-fashion giant Boohoo Group.

Having been rebuffed — repeatedly — by the Mulberry board and the main shareholder Challice Ltd., Frasers confirmed after the markets closed on Wednesday that it will not make a bid for Mulberry.

As reported, both the Mulberry board and Challice have voiced their support of the new chief executive officer, Andrea Baldo, and believe his strategy, coupled with 10 million pounds in fresh financing, will restore the British B Corp brand to robust health.

Frasers, Mulberry’s largest minority shareholder with around 37 percent of shares, said it will remain a “long-term supporter of the well-loved British brand” and seek “fuller engagement” with the Mulberry board, and Challice, going forward.

Just as it closed the chapter on Mulberry, Frasers opened another one on Boohoo, which last week said goodbye to its CEO John Lyttle, and announced plans to sell a number of noncore brands, including Debenhams and Karen Millen.

On Thursday, Boohoo said it had received letters from HSBC on behalf of Frasers Group requesting an extraordinary general meeting to nominate Ashley as a director and CEO of the company.

Frasers, which has a 27 percent stake in Boohoo, also wants to see Lyttle, who served as CEO for five years, ousted from the board. Boohoo said it was “reviewing” the requests with its advisers, and urged shareholders not to take any action in the meantime.

As reported last week, Boohoo is looking to shore up its plummeting share price and “maximize” shareholder value by placing its three main divisions — Debenhams, Karen Millen and Young Fashion Brands, which comprises Boohoo and other youth-focused brands — under review.

The company said the performance of its “youth brands” has remained impacted by the external environment, although the group continues to see considerable GMV growth for Debenhams’ external marketplace, with an additional 5,000 brands signed within the period.

In an effort to drive business, Boohoo said it has already executed on a series of “decisive and robust strategic initiatives to drive operational efficiencies and optimize the cost base over the last 18 months.”

It also said that “substantial strategic progress” has been made, including the reinvigoration of the Debenhams and Karen Millen brands, and the Debenhams marketplace strategy.

Boohoo Group also announced a 222 million pound debt refinancing facility, amid a 15 percent decline in revenue to 620 million pounds and a 7 percent drop in gross merchandise value to 802 million pounds in the fiscal first half ended Aug. 31.

Ashley’s fast moves should come as no surprise. He is known here as the Grim Reaper of the high street, buying up stakes in mass market, premium and luxury companies and then pouncing when he senses trouble, or when sales begin to slow.

The publicly quoted Frasers Group, formerly known as Sports Direct International, owns a variety of retailers and brands including Sports Direct, Evans Cycles, Everlast and Everlast Gyms. Frasers also owns British fashion chains House of Fraser, Flannels, Frasers and the Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes.

Other brands in the Frasers portfolio include Jack Wills, Slazenger and Agent Provocateur.

Frasers’ expertise lies in the mass and mid-markets, although it has struggled with luxury.

Earlier this year, Frasers put Matches into administration just two months after buying it at a knockdown price of 52 million pounds from Apax Partners.

Following the Matches purchase just before Christmas, Michael Murray, CEO of Frasers, said “we are confident that, by leveraging our industry-leading ecosystem, we will unlock synergies and drive profitable growth for Matches.”

In a matter of weeks Frasers flipped, saying “it has become clear that too much change would be required to restructure [Matches], and the continued funding requirements would be far in excess of amounts that the group considers to be viable.”

Frasers eventually purchased Matches’ intellectual property, while the stock was sold by administrators leaving many designers and brands with unpaid bills.

The Matches town house has also been handed back to its owner, Grosvenor, which used it as a showroom for young designers and artists from the Sarabande Foundation earlier this month during the art and design fairs in London.