Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group Raises Stake in Hugo Boss

Marthe Fourcade, Bloomberg News

An employee steams a piece of clothing inside a Hugo Boss store prior to opening in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, Australia, on Monday, Oct. 11, 2021. Residents of New South Wales who have received both doses of the covid vaccine were on Monday again allowed to start visiting non-essential retail stores, pubs and gyms, with capacity limits. The government eased lockdown measures once 70% of people over age 16 were fully vaccinated. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- British sporting goods billionaire Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group Plc raised its stake in fashion retailer Hugo Boss AG.

Frasers valued the new holding at about 900 million euros ($944 million) in a statement Wednesday.

Ashley has garnered a reputation for taking over failing retailers and building up stakes in rivals. Earlier this month, Frasers snapped up online brand Missguided after it entered UK insolvency proceedings.

Germany’s Hugo Boss is in the process of shifting its offerings toward more casual fashion. The investment “reflects Frasers Group’s belief in the Hugo Boss brand, strategy and management team,” the company said.

Other Ashley investments have included video game retailer Game Digital and Jack Wills, an apparel supplier.

Frasers said it has 3.4 million shares of common stock that make up 4.9% of Hugo Boss’s total share capital, and another 18.3 million shares via the sale of put options that represent 26% of the capital.

(Updates with percentages held in last paragraph)