A 5.1 per cent stake in Hugo Boss has been acquired by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group through stocks and derivatives as part of Ashley’s ongoing ambition to create the ‘Harrods of the high street’ or the ‘Selfridges of sport’. The investment reflected its growing ties with Hugo Boss and belief in its long-term future, the British retaining group said recently.
Ashley’s acquisitions and investments in other businesses in recent years formed part of that desire, which also comprises rolling out the new Frasers concept, a luxury offshoot of House of Fraser, which Frasers Group acquired in August 2018 in a £90 million pre-pack administration deal.
Earlier this year, the Frasers Group had signed a 65,000-sq-ft space for a brand new Frasers store within Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield, replacing the two-storey House of Fraser site.
The Frasers Group confirmed it purchased 120,000 shares of Hugo Boss common stock, 140,000 shares of common stock via contracts for difference, and 3.29 million shares of common stock via the sale of put options.
After taking into account the premium it would receive under the put options, Frasers Group said its maximum aggregate exposure in connection with its acquired interests in Hugo Boss is about £97 million, according to British media reports.
Hugo Boss is a main supplier for House of Fraser, along with Flannels.
