Frasers Group, the retail empire controlled by British billionaire Mike Ashley, raised its shareholding in German fashion house Hugo Boss to 48% following the close of an offer period, the company confirmed on August 18. The move leaves Ashley just short of outright control of one of Europe’s best-known luxury menswear brands.
The increase came after 17.6% of Hugo Boss shareholders accepted Frasers’ offer of €38 (approximately $41) per share. That price reflected only a 4% premium to the stock’s value when the bid was first tabled in June, when Frasers made a takeover approach worth nearly €2 billion (£1.73 billion, or roughly $2.2 billion).
Hugo Boss’s board had rejected that earlier bid as “inadequate” and urged shareholders to hold their stock. Despite that resistance, enough investors tendered their shares to push Frasers close to a controlling position without triggering a full buyout.
Axel Rudolph, an analyst at investing platform IG, described the higher stake as “another major step towards gaining control” of Hugo Boss, adding that the new position puts Frasers “firmly in the driving seat as it looks to increase its influence.”
The Hugo Boss purchase caps a busy stretch of dealmaking for Ashley, whose group also owns Sports Direct and House of Fraser. Last week Frasers acquired the upmarket Harvey Nichols department store chain for a reported £40 million (about $54 million), extending its reach further into the premium retail segment.
Frasers has been building its Hugo Boss position for several years, gradually accumulating shares and derivatives in the brand it already stocks across its stores. The relationship between the two firms has deepened over time, with Hugo Boss maintaining a roster of high-profile brand partnerships even as its largest single investor edged toward the boardroom.
The German company, headquartered in Metzingen, sells tailoring, casualwear and accessories through more than 1,000 retail locations worldwide and licenses fragrances and eyewear under its name.
For now, Frasers stops short of the majority needed to dictate strategy, leaving Hugo Boss’s management in place while its dominant shareholder waits. Ashley’s next steps will determine whether the German brand becomes a fuller part of the Frasers portfolio or remains a strategic investment held at arm’s length.