Shares in Hugo Boss jumped nearly 10% on Thursday after the German fashion house said it would “thoroughly examine” a near-€2bn takeover approach from the Sports Direct owner Frasers Group. The offer – €38 a share in cash, valuing the company at €2.7bn – came late on Wednesday from Mike Ashley’s retail empire, which already owns just over 26% of Hugo Boss.
The premium of 4.3% to Wednesday’s closing price sent Hugo Boss shares to €40.05, above the offer level, while Frasers shares initially fell 2.5% before recovering to a 1.6% gain. Frasers said it expected the takeover to be completed by the end of the year, subject to legal checks, after the group – formerly known as Sports Direct – built its stake steadily since 2020.
“Frasers Group offers £1.73bn to buy Hugo Boss; shares jump 10% as firm reviews the unsolicited bid.”
Frasers, which also owns House of Fraser, Game, Jack Wills, Evans Cycles, Flannels and the Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes, described the move as part of its “strong track record in making strategic investments”. It said it was “a long-term investor” in Hugo Boss and “remains supportive” of its chair and chief executive. The deal would take the German brand into Ashley’s expanding fashion empire, which already includes stakes in Asos, Debenhams and Currys.
Hugo Boss, Germany’s biggest luxury fashion group with €4.3bn in sales last year, said the “unsolicited” offer had “not been coordinated with the company” and that its board would “inform its shareholders and the public about further developments and next steps”. The company has struggled with weaker sales since a post-Covid boom and is in the middle of a turnaround strategy involving store revamps, a streamlined product range and expanded womenswear.
JP Morgan Chase said the bid would set a near-term floor for the shares but warned there was limited scope for further gains, adding that it did not expect a rival bidder to emerge. Frasers is close to the 30% ownership threshold under German law that requires it to make an offer for the whole company. It also holds options due to vest in the next two years that could give it a majority stake.
Last year, Michael Murray, the Frasers chief executive and Ashley’s son-in-law, joined Hugo Boss’s supervisory board, but Frasers said he was not involved in the decision to make the offer. The approach came as Frasers continues a sometimes combative relationship with other retailers: it remains the largest shareholder in Boohoo, where it blocked a name change to Debenhams, and has written several open letters criticising the firm.
Hugo Boss said its managing board and supervisory board would “thoroughly examine the offer and issue a reasoned statement, acting in the best interests of the company, its shareholders, employees and customers.”