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Mulberry’s majority shareholder Challice has turned down an increased bid of £111m from Frasers Group as it has “no interest in selling”.
Chalice pointed out that Frasers would be unable to take over Mulberry without its support.
Frasers, which already owns 37% of Mulberry, raised its offer for the retailer to 150p a share on Friday after an earlier £83m bid, worth 130p a share, was rejected earlier this month.
The firm also opted to participate in last week’s fundraising round by Mulberry, buying £3.9m new Mulberry shares.
Challice stated: “Challice has no interest in either selling its Mulberry shares to Frasers or providing Frasers with any irrevocable or other undertaking with regards the possible offer. Challice hopes that by making its position clear, Frasers will be encouraged to announce that it does not intend to make an offer for Mulberry.
“[Challice] believes that it is an inopportune time for Mulberry to be sold and particularly regrets the distraction that the possible offer is bringing to the company and its management team at this time.”
Last month, Mulberry’s board said the recent appointment of CEO Andrea Baldo alongside the £10.75m cash raise “provides the company with a solid platform to execute a turnaround”.
