Mike Ashley’s Frasers lifts stake in Hugo Boss to 48%

Billionaire Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has accumulated close to a 48 per cent stake in Hugo Boss, as the UK retail group accelerates its push into the world of luxury.

The German fashion group a month ago urged shareholders to reject Frasers’ €2.7 billion takeover offer, which lapsed last week, arguing it significantly undervalued the company.

The UK group launched its €38-a-share offer for Hugo Boss in June to acquire the roughly 74 per cent of the company it did not already own. At the time, Frasers sought to push its stake beyond 30 per cent, a threshold at which suitors are legally required in Germany to make an offer to all remaining shareholders. By July, it had reached 38 per cent.

Stephan Sturm, chair of Hugo Boss’s supervisory board, said on Tuesday that the company looked forward to “a constructive relationship with them as our single largest shareholder”.

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“We appreciate Frasers Group’s continued long-term commitment to Hugo Boss,” he said in a statement.

Frasers has built its business on discount models at Sports Direct and is now targeting the luxury sector.

It sealed the acquisition of Harvey Nichols for roughly £40 million last week, and it has built stakes in British luxury brands Burberry and Mulberry.

Frasers’ chief executive Michael Murray, Ashley’s son-in-law, was nominated to the German company’s supervisory board in 2024. Frasers first acquired a stake in Hugo Boss in 2020.

The UK group last month warned Hugo Boss that it would vote against dividend payments, arguing the German company should instead focus its capital on expanding the business.

In response, Hugo Boss said it would soon unveil a strategy targeting profitable growth at a meeting with investors.

“We’ll show them a bit of Dunkirk spirit – quote me, I don’t care,” Ashley told the FT in a recent interview.

Frasers has a history of growing significant holdings in suppliers and rivals, often as a means to secure supply of certain brands or pressure them to adopt its services, including its buy now, pay later offering. Frasers acquired a 6 per cent stake in Puma this year.

It also controls a portfolio of more than 90 luxury department stores. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026