Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has criticised the management of Mulberry as it walked away from its attempts to take over the luxury handbag maker after a series of rejected offers.
Frasers, which is Mulberry’s second-largest shareholder with a 37% stake, had made several offers for the fashion brand, culminating in a £111m bid this week, all of which have been rebuffed.
Mulberry’s largest shareholder, Challice, a group controlled by the Singaporean entrepreneur Christina Ong and her husband, had previously said it had no interest in selling its shares. Challice has a 56% stake, meaning it is able to block any deal.
In its final bid, Frasers, which owns the Sports Direct chain, offered 150p a share on Tuesday. This was rejected by Mulberry’s board.
The board said it had unanimously decided the offer was “untenable and that the company should focus its attention on driving the commercial performance of the business”.
Walking away from its pursuit of Mulberry on Wednesday, Frasers continued to criticise the management of the luxury handbag maker, saying it remained “concerned about the governance of Mulberry”. In a statement to investors, it added: “Frasers continues to believe that market headwinds, and a clear lack of commercial plan, place the company in a very difficult financial position.”
The retail group said it remained a “long-term supporter” of Mulberry, and called on the company to present “a credible plan in the near term”, as it reiterated its request for a seat on Mulberry’s board.
Mulberry’s shares were trading more than 6% lower on Wednesday afternoon, but had pared some losses from earlier in the day.
Frasers also owns House of Fraser department stores, Evans Cycles and the Flannels luxury streetwear chain. It first made an offer for Mulberry after the handbag maker said it needed to raise cash after a slide in sales led to a £34m pre-tax loss in its last financial year. Mulberry warned that spending was slowing among well-off shoppers in the UK and Asia.
Its board has previously said the recent appointment of Andrea Baldo as chief executive, along with an emergency £10.75m share placing, had provide the company with a “solid platform to execute a turnaround”.
Frasers said it had first made a bid for Mulberry as it would “not accept another Debenhams situation” in which a perfectly viable business was “run into administration”, a reference to the £150m loss it sustained from the collapse of the department store chain where it was a shareholder.
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Under UK takeover rules, Frasers was required to make a firm offer for Mulberry by 5pm on 28 October or walk away.
Frasers is now prevented from making a further offer for the handbag maker for six months unless certain conditions are met, including Mulberry’s board agreeing to such an offer, or if there is a material change in circumstances at the company.
Mulberry has been contacted for comment.