The public spat between Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group and Boohoo has taken another turn as the struggling fast-fashion retailer announced its co-founder Mahmud Kamani was replaced as chairman.
Non-executive director Tim Morris has taken on the role with immediate effect with Kamani becoming vice chairman.
In a statement, the board of the Manchester-headquartered group said it had decided to divide the role of chairman to “enable the company to have an independent chair and allow Mahmud to continue his day to day executive role”.
In a separate statement, Boohoo’s top investor Frasers Group called for a shareholder’s meeting to remove Kamani as a director and to replace him with Mike Ashley and Mike Lennon.
The group’s second open letter described “dismal interim results”, “a lack of transparency”, “imminent and unannounced debt repayment” and “further supply chain allegations”.
Boohoo has been accused of reviving ties with a manufacturer it had axed in the wake of its modern slavery scandal by The Times.
The letter set out Frasers Group’s response to Boohoo’s circular statement last week, in which it argued that Ashley and Frasers “attempted to exert influence over the board’s refinancing, business review and appointments to the board for the good of themselves alone, and are acting in their own self-interest.”
Boohoo said: “Frasers has prior history of this sort of corporate behaviour shareholders should ask themselves what Frasers’ true intentions are, and why is it apparently seeking to disrupt the Business Review. Is it purely to maximise value, or is there an ulterior motive to acquire boohoo’s assets for below market value?”
Ironically, Frasers has now accused Kamani of acting in his own self-interest against the health of Boohoo: “[The board] is ultimately run by Mr Kamani, for the benefit of Mr Kamani,” it said, adding that the board was “dysfunctional”.