Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group begins £80m share buyback and ups stake in N Brown
Frasers Group, the owner of retailers such as House of Fraser, Jack Wills and GAME, has begun an £80m share buyback.
The programme, which begins today and will run for 11 weeks to 28 April, will see a maximum of 10m shares acquired for £80m at most, or about two per cent of the firm.
Owned by Mike Ashley, the group is the largest sports goods retailer in the UK.
Frasers Group’s share price is down 11.6 per cent since the start of 2024, and last month upped its holdings in fast-fashion groups such as Asos and Boohoo.
Last week, it further strengthened its position as the largest single shareholder of Boohoo, bringing its holding to 22 per cent.
Today, Manchester-based N Brown Group said that Frasers has increased its shareholding in the clothing retailer from 19.4 per cent to above 20 per cent, now holding £92.8m of the firm’s shares.
Frasers Group said that the purpose of the new buyback was to reduce the share capital of the firm, with the shares repurchased being held in treasury pending cancellation or re-issue.
This is the latest programme from the group, which ran several buybacks throughout last year.
The group’s share price is up two per cent this morning following the announcement.