Mike Ashley's Frasers Group offers £1.73 billion to buy Hugo Boss outright
Frasers Group, controlled by Mike Ashley, has offered 75 euros per share — a cash and stock package worth £1.73 billion — to acquire Stuttgart-based German luxury apparel maker Hugo Boss in full. Frasers already holds 27% of the shares; Hugo Boss's supervisory board has retained Goldman Sachs and Allen & Overy to evaluate the bid.
Frasers Group filed a formal regulatory announcement on Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange, disclosing a two-tier takeover offer to the Hugo Boss management board. The offer values Hugo Boss shares at 75 euros, up from 60 euros - a 26% premium to Tuesday's close. The structure is 60% cash and 40% newly issued Frasers stock; the total runs to 2.03 billion euros, or 1.73 billion pounds.
Frasers said that on top of its existing 27% stake, the target could be delisted in Frankfurt and relisted in London, though the Stuttgart manufacturing hub would be preserved. A spokesperson told Reuters the BOSS and Hugo brands would be repositioned and that wider Sports Direct distribution at the luxury-mid segment was planned. Hugo Boss CEO Daniel Grieder declined comment; supervisory-board chairman Heinz Fischer said the board would await its advisers' evaluation.
Hugo Boss shares rose 18% in Frankfurt to close at 71 euros; Frasers shares fell 4% in London. JPMorgan analyst Olivia Townsend said the premium was aggressive but the operational-synergy case was limited. The German Works Council sent a joint letter demanding employment and production guarantees from the management board. The German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs said it may open a preliminary foreign-investment review.
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