Sports Direct considers £61.4m bid for Debenhams

Sports Direct, owned by Mike Ashley, is considering a £61.4m bid to take control over embattled department store chain Debenhams, despite the retailer rejecting its previous proposals.

The sportswear retailer said the possible offer is “pre-conditional” upon Debenhams immediately appointing Ashley as its CEO and terminating the noteholder consent solicitation process it announced on 22 March 2019.

The sportswear retailer has already made several offers to the department store, including a £150m loan and proposing to acquire its Danish company Magasin Du Nord for £100m. Mike Ashley has been attempting to take control of Debenhams through these offers, stating his intention to remove all board members expect Rachel Osborne and appoint himself to an executive role.

Sports Direct also said Debenhams’ current restructuring and refinancing process was “likely to result in an adverse outcome” for its existing shareholders.

A statement by Sports Direct read: “Sports Direct believes that the possible offer would offer fair and full value for Debenhams. It does not believe that Debenhams has the same value if it is (in effect) handed over to Debenhams’ existing lender group.

“As such, Sports Direct would expect the possible offer to be attractive to Debenhams shareholders and other stakeholders as an alternative to Debenhams’ current restructuring and refinancing process.”