<div id="readability-page-1">  <p><time datetime="2026-06-15T07:37:07+01:00">    Monday 15 June 2026 7:37 am  </time></p>         <div>                                                                                                                 Add as a preferred        source on Google                        </div>    <figure>    <div>       </div> <img width="742" height="495" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.cityam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/shoe-xzone-2-1.jpg/query-dz03NDI?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.cityam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/shoe-xzone-2-1.jpg/query-dz03NDI"/>  <figcaption>Mike Ashley's Frasers Group bid for Accent sent the shoe firm's shares up</figcaption> </figure> <p>Frasers Group has launched a £166m takeover bid of Australian shoe company Accent, in billionaire Mike Ashley’s latest attempt to expand his fashion empire.</p><p>The fashion conglomerate has offered to buy all of the shares in Accent it does not already own for 65 Australian cents per share, valuing the offer at A$136m (£166m).</p><p>Frasers, which is majority owned by Ashley, already owns 22.9 per cent of shares in Accent and is its biggest shareholder.</p><p>The offer value is well below the A$0.90 price Frasers most recently paid for shares in Accent, in February this year.</p><p>Shares in Australian-listed Accent boomed on news of the offer, jumping nearly 14 per cent to 74 Australian cents, well above the offer tabled by Frasers.</p><p>Accent operates Frasers’s Sports Direct</p><p>Accent responded to the offer on Monday morning, saying it is reviewing the “unsolicited” bid and advising shareholders to take no action. </p><p>The shoe and athleisure retailer was founded in 1988 and operates more than 900 stores across Australia and New Zealand. </p><p>It reported total sales of A$1.6bn in the year to June last year, flat on the previous year, while profit after tax fell by three per cent to A$57.7m.</p><p>Frasers took a 14.65 per cent stake in Accent in August 2024, and upped this holding to 19.57 per cent in April 2025 when it struck a deal with the Australian firm to operate Sports Direct in Australia and New Zealand.</p><p>Accent opened its first Sports Direct store in Victoria, Australia in November and plans to open two more before the end of its financial year. </p><h2 id="h-2bn-bid-for-hugo-boss">€2bn bid for Hugo Boss </h2><p>Ashley’s Frasers Group, which also owns Flannels, Jack Wills and Evans Cycles, has garnered a reputation for taking large stakes in rival retailers before using this position to make larger plays.</p><p>Last week, the conglomerate launched a €2bn bid for German luxury brand Hugo Boss in an attempt to forge Frasers’s path into luxury fashion.</p><p>The €38 per share offer sent Hugo Boss’ share price soaring, to nearly €40, as Frasers – which is listed on the FTSE 250 – also saw its shares jump.</p><p>Frasers launched a takeover bid of luxury bagmaker Mulberry in 2024 but was slapped down by the firm’s owner, which reaffirmed its confidence in its turnaround plan.</p><p>Last year, Ashley failed in his bid to join the board of fast-fashion giant Boohoo, in which Frasers is the largest shareholder.</p> </div>

FRAS

<p>Frasers Group, owned by Mike Ashley, has launched a £166m takeover bid for Australian shoe retailer Accent. The offer values the company at A$136m, though it is below recent market prices. Accent shares rose nearly 14% on the news. This follows Frasers' recent €2bn bid for Hugo Boss and its strategy of acquiring stakes in rivals to expand its fashion empire.</p>

Mike Ashley’s Frasers makes £166m play for shoe firm Accent