Hugo Boss’ supervisory board rejected Frasers Group’s takeover offer as inadequate, but the tender still leaves Mike Ashley’s retailer holding 47.89 percent of the German fashion house, within striking distance of the stake that would hand it majority control.
Frasers Group has raised its stake in Hugo Boss to 47.89 percent, after holders of 17.62 percent of the German fashion house’s shares tendered them during the additional acceptance period that closed on August 13, Hugo Boss said in a statement. The move puts Mike Ashley’s retail group within reach of majority control, at 33,054,959 shares of the roughly 69 million outstanding. The increase follows a €38-a-share takeover offer that lapsed last week.
Hugo Boss’ supervisory board had urged shareholders to reject the bid as inadequate, and the European Commission cleared it on antitrust grounds on July 27. Supervisory board chairman Stephan Sturm struck a conciliatory note on the outcome, saying the company “look[s] forward to maintaining a constructive relationship” with Frasers “as our single largest shareholder.”
Chief executive Daniel Grieder said the business remains focused on executing its CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN turnaround plan, introduced in December 2025 and targeting brand equity, distribution and operational gains through 2028.
Hugo Boss stake part of Frasers’ expansion drive
Ashley’s group has been assembling a luxury and premium portfolio beyond its Sports Direct discount roots, buying Harvey Nichols out of administration for roughly £40 million last week and building minority positions in Burberry, Mulberry and Puma. Frasers first invested in Hugo Boss in 2020 and pushed its holding past Germany’s 30 percent mandatory-offer threshold earlier this year before the takeover bid itself fell short of full control.
A partial win for Frasers, an open question for Hugo Boss
Analysts read the tender results as a partial win for Frasers despite the offer’s rejection. IG’s Axel Rudolph called the increased stake “another major step towards gaining control” of Hugo Boss, while retail analyst Nick Bubb described the result as “surprisingly successful” given what he called the “token nature” of the €38 offer, a 4 percent premium to Hugo Boss’ share price when it was tabled.
Frasers has previously used minority stakes in suppliers to pressure them toward its commercial terms, including its buy now, pay later service, a pattern that raises questions about how Hugo Boss’ independence holds up with its largest shareholder now approaching half the register.
