Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is seeking majority control of Hugo Boss after raising its stake in the German fashion house to 47.89 per cent, intensifying the British retailer’s push into higher-end fashion.
The Sports Direct owner said on Tuesday that it intended to “further increase” its ownership of Hugo Boss, with the objective of taking its holding above 50 per cent of the company’s share capital and voting rights.
Crossing that threshold would give Frasers greater control over the governance and strategic direction of the luxury brand.
Frasers, which is majority-owned by billionaire Ashley, cautioned that there was no certainty that it would achieve its objective.
The group also told shareholders that it was reviewing whether it continued to support Stephan Sturm, chair of Hugo Boss’s supervisory board.
Michael Murray, Frasers’ chief executive, is himself a member of the Hugo Boss supervisory board.
Frasers has steadily increased its exposure to Hugo Boss since making its initial investment in 2020. Its stake reached about 36 per cent in July before the retailer launched an unsuccessful attempt to acquire the remainder of the company.
The proposed takeover valued the outstanding shares at about €1.98bn (£1.73bn), equivalent to an offer price of roughly €38 a share.
Hugo Boss’s management and supervisory board rejected the proposal, describing it as “inadequate from a financial point of view”, and recommended that shareholders reject the offer.
Frasers subsequently took the proposal directly to investors. Shareholders representing 17.6 per cent of Hugo Boss accepted the terms, leaving the offer short of the support required for the transaction to proceed.
The decision to increase its stake nevertheless gives Frasers a significantly larger position from which to pursue its strategy for the German fashion group.
The move comes shortly after Frasers completed its acquisition of Harvey Nichols, adding one of Britain’s best-known luxury department store names to Ashley’s expanding retail portfolio.
Harvey Nichols had been put up for auction after warning in its latest accounts that it would need to “cease trading” within a year without new investment.
Frasers’ rescue deal includes Harvey Nichols’ six stores in Knightsbridge, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Edinburgh, alongside its online operation, inventory and about 1,000 employees.
The Hugo Boss investment represents a further step in Frasers’ long-running strategy of building a broader presence in premium and luxury retail, alongside its established Sports Direct business.
For Hugo Boss, meanwhile, the emergence of Frasers as a potential majority shareholder could bring renewed scrutiny of the company’s strategy and governance, particularly following the earlier takeover approach.
Frasers has not guaranteed that it will cross the 50 per cent threshold, but its latest move leaves Ashley’s group within touching distance of majority control of one of Germany’s best-known fashion companies.
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