Key facts
- Frasers Group, owned by Mike Ashley, has increased its stake in Hugo Boss to 47.89%.
- Frasers Group intends to further increase its ownership of Hugo Boss to above 50% of share capital and voting rights.
- Frasers Group is reviewing its support for Hugo Boss's current supervisory board chairman, Stephan Sturm.
- Michael Murray, Frasers' CEO, is also a member of Hugo Boss's supervisory board.
- Frasers Group previously made an unsuccessful takeover bid of approximately 1.98 billion euro (£1.73 billion) for Hugo Boss.
- Hugo Boss's management and supervisory board deemed the previous takeover offer inadequate.
Frasers Group, the retail empire majority-owned by billionaire Mike Ashley, has significantly increased its stake in German fashion house Hugo Boss to 47.89%, signaling a strong intent to gain majority control. The company confirmed it plans to "further increase" its ownership with the ultimate objective of surpassing 50% of the overall share capital and voting rights, which would allow it to exert greater influence over the business.
In conjunction with its increased shareholding, Frasers Group is also reviewing its support for Stephan Sturm, the current chairman of Hugo Boss's supervisory board. Frasers' chief executive, Michael Murray, already sits on Hugo Boss's supervisory board.
This move follows a previous, unsuccessful takeover attempt by Frasers in June, where it offered approximately 1.98 billion euro (£1.73 billion), or 38 euro per share, for the remaining shares it did not own. However, Hugo Boss's management and supervisory board rejected the bid as financially inadequate, and shareholders representing 17.6% of the company accepted the offer, while the majority did not.
Frasers Group has been steadily increasing its stake in Hugo Boss since first investing in 2020. The company recently also acquired the luxury department store Harvey Nichols.