Frasers Group confirms €38-a-share Hugo Boss takeover offer is final

Frasers Group confirmed in an official statement that its proposed takeover offer for German luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss is final, setting the price at €38 per share for the outstanding shares it does not yet own.

Frasers Group had initially announced the takeover bid for Hugo Boss on 10 June, after steadily building up a significant stake in the company over the past six years.

Mike Ashley’s retail vehicle, which currently owns 26.58% of Hugo Boss shares, has now confirmed that it is considering to acquire the 73.42% of the share capital and voting rights it does not yet own at €1,925.4 billion (£1,683.0 million), or €38 per share. This would give Frasers full control of the German fashion group.

"The Offer Price is final and Frasers bindingly and irrevocably declares that it will not increase the Offer Price during the acceptance period and the additional acceptance period," Frasers Group, the British retail group behind Sports Direct, Flannels and the Frasers department store chain, shared in the statement.

Notably, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) approved publication of the document, marking the start of the formal acceptance process under German takeover rules.

Hugo Boss had previously commented that the said the bid had been unsolicited. Frasers CEO Michael Murray joined the Hugo Boss's supervisory board last year as a result of the group's growing shareholding, but Frasers said Murray "did not participate in the board's discussion of, or decision to make, the offer".

Hugo Boss's board previously said they would "thoroughly examine the offer".

The bid lands as Hugo Boss works through a strategic reset after falling sales, while Frasers has been expanding its influence across European.

While Frasers has presented the move as long-term value creation, analysts had voiced scepticism about the bid's prospects.

Hugo Boss is not the only company that Frasers Group has set its eyes on. One week after it made its initial offer for Hugo Boss, the company announced that it was looking to acquire Australia’s Accent Group for £166 million, according to media reports.

Frasers Group is already a majority shareholder (almost 23%) of Accent Group, which sells brands including Hype in Australia as well as operating multi-brand retailer Platypus Shoes. It is also reported to handle Frasers Group’s Sports Direct in the region.