Mike Ashley’s retail empire Frasers Group has further increased its stake in fast fashion giant, Boohoo.
The Mansfield-headquartered group now holds 26.1 per cent of the shares in Boohoo, up from 25 per cent, according to a newly-filed document with the London Stock Exchange.
Frasers Group, which owns the likes of Sports Direct and House of Fraser, became the largest single shareholder in the Manchester-based group in October 2023.
It first invested in Boohoo in June 2023 after acquiring a five per cent stake.
Boohoo’s next largest single shareholder is co-founder Mahmud Kamani who has a holding of 12.6 per cent.
The retailer is currently worth just over £355m after its shares took a nose dive from 35.4p to 27.3p in August.
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group and Boohoo hit the headlines
Boohoo hit the headlines in May this year when it abandoned a move to hand its top bosses bonuses of £1m after shareholders reacted angrily to the plans.
It had been proposing to hand three of its top executives a £1m bonus each despite its losses swelling to almost £160m during the latest financial year.
Co-founders Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane were to be handed the bumper pay packet alongside chief executive John Lyttle.
The bonus was made up of £300,000 in cash and £700,000 in shares in the group, which includes brands such as PrettyLittleThing and Debenhams.
Boohoo reported a pre-tax loss of £159.9m for its latest financial year while its revenue also declined by 17 per cent.
The latest move by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group comes after it confirmed an investment into the Australian retail and distribution firm Accent.
The London-listed retail empire snapped up a 14.65 per cent stake in the company in a move it hopes will further its footprint in Australia and New Zealand – identified as a key market for the group’s expansion ambitions.
As part of the deal Accent said it plans to offer Frasers Group the opportunity to propose a director to join its board.