<div id="readability-page-1"><div><div><div><div><p>Mike Ashley’s retail empire has made a £1.7bn offer for Hugo Boss, six years after it first took a position in the luxury fashion house.</p><p>The British billionaire’s Frasers Group said it had made an all-cash offer to buy the 102-year-old German suit maker, in which it already holds a 26pc stake.</p><p>It comes as Mr Ashley seeks to bolster his empire, broadening its reach in luxury fashion and growing its business in Europe.</p><p>Under the offer, Frasers would buy the 74pc of shares in Hugo Boss that are currently outside its control, including those listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.</p><p>The €38 (£32.80) a share offer marks a roughly 4pc premium on Hugo Boss’s current stock price of €36.46 (£31.47).</p><p>His target is Germany’s biggest luxury fashion business, which achieved €4.3bn (£3.7bn) worth of sales in 2025. The brand was founded in Metzingen, Germany, in 1922, and first floated in Frankfurt in 1989.</p><p>Frasers has sought to forge closer ties with Hugo Boss for several years, and has sold its luxury suits through House of Fraser and Flannels stores.</p><p>Michael Murray, who is both Frasers Group’s chief executive and Mr Ashley’s son-in-law, already sits on Hugo Boss’s board.</p><p>Mr Ashley, who owns an almost 74pc stake in Frasers Group, started building a stake in Hugo Boss in 2020 and is now its biggest shareholder.</p><p>Under German law, any shareholder who holds more than 30pc of a publicly listed company must make an offer to buy all remaining shares.</p><p>It will be seen as part of Frasers’ recent “elevation strategy” which has involved investments in luxury fashion brand Flannels and bespoke tailor Gieves &amp; Hawkes, and is aimed at transforming itself from a discount retailer to a more high-end business.</p><p>Mr Ashley formed Sports Direct in 1982 before rebranding it as Frasers Group in 2019 when it took over the House of Fraser department store chain and saved it from the brink of collapse.</p><p>The retail business started with a single store in Maidenhead, trading under the name Mike Ashley Sports. </p><p>However, Mr Ashley has since used the company to build a sprawling empire that has taken over some of Britain’s biggest retailers, including Evans Cycles and Jack Wills. It has also built sizeable stakes in online retailers such as ASOS, Boohoo and AO World.</p><p>Mr Ashley is now worth more than £3bn, making him one of the richest people in Britain, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.</p><p>The British billionaire submitted a bid in March for Sheffield Wednesday football club, having sold his stakes in Newcastle United FC to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and his stake in Rangers FC to the Club 1872 fan group and Julian Wolhardt, a private equity boss.</p><p>Frasers Group declined to comment. Hugo Boss was contacted for comment.</p></div></div></div></div></div>

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<p>Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has launched a £1.7bn all-cash bid to acquire the remaining 74% stake in German luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss, offering €38 per share, a 4% premium over the current market price. This move aims to bolster Frasers' luxury portfolio and transform its business model from discount retail to high-end fashion, leveraging Ashley's existing 26% stake and strategic investments.</p>

Mike Ashley’s Frasers launches £1.7bn bid to buy Hugo Boss