Mike Ashley
This coverage examines Mike Ashley’s activities and influence within the UK retail sector, including his leadership roles, acquisitions, strategic decisions, and impact on companies such as Sports Direct and Frasers Group. Reporting provides retail managers and executives with insights into his business approach and its implications for the wider industry.
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Mar- 2019 -22 MarchDepartment Stores
Debenhams secures £200m lifeline
Embattled department store Debenhams has confirmed it has secured a £200m refinancing lifeline. The funding is expected to “provide liquidity headroom” for its future funding needs and “deliver stability for its customers, staff, suppliers and pension holders”. Earlier this month, the company said it was considering a £150m cash injection…
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14 MarchNews
Sports Direct offers Debenhams £150m loan
Debenhams has confirmed it is considering an offer made by Sports Direct for a £150m unsecured 12 month loan. The news comes after the department store announced it was in discussions with its lenders to obtain the funding, a move which seemed to counter shareholder Mike Ashley’s attempt to appoint…
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11 MarchDepartment Stores
Debenhams in talks to secure £150m lifeline
Embattled department store Debenhams has confirmed it is in “advanced negotiations” to secure £150m funding from its lenders just a week after it issued another profit warning. The company saw a drop in sales for the half year to 2 March, leading it to say the profit expectations it announced…
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8 MarchDepartment Stores
Mike Ashley moves to take control of Debenhams
Mike Ashley has announced plans to remove all the directors at Debenhams, except Rachel Osborne who was appointed in September, and appoint himself to the board in an executive role. Ashley, who holds a 30% stake in the department store chain, pledged in a stock exchange announcement on Thursday evening…
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5 MarchM&A
Sports Direct offers £139m for Findel
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct has announced it has made a £139m bid for home shopping company, Findel. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange this morning (5 March), Sports Direct said it intended to purchase the remaining shares in Findel for 161p per share, a 1p reduction on the…
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Feb- 2019 -18 FebruaryDepartment Stores
Philip Day eyes M&S and House of Fraser stores
Retail entrepreneur and Edinburgh Wooden Mill boss Philip Day is reportedly in talks to acquire a small number of Marks and Spencer and House of Fraser stores that are set to close. According to the Sunday Telegraph, Day is aiming to turn the stores into branches of his Days department…
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14 FebruaryHigh Street
Mike Ashley’s business profits tumble
Profits at the holding company that contains Mike Ashley’s business empire plummeted in 2017, attributed to the fall in value of the pound and the poor performance at Newcastle United. Accounts filed at Companies House for the financial year ending April 2017 revealed profits at Mash Holdings fell from £227.7m…
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6 FebruaryDepartment Stores
Warehouse supplying HoF to shut affecting 280 jobs
A warehouse which supplies deliveries to House of Fraser is set to close later this year, affecting some 280 job roles. Trade union Usdaw announced that the Wellingborough, Northampton site, operated by XPO Logistics will shut on 10 April. The union said the closure ended months of “uncertainty for staff”…
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5 FebruaryEntertainment
HMV bought by Sunrise Records
HMV has been bought by Canadian record store chain Sunrise Records, the deal will save 100 stores and 1,487 jobs, while 27 stores are expected to shutter resulting in 455 redundancies. No price has been given for the entertainment retailer, with staff expected to be notified if their store is…
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4 FebruaryHigh Street
Mike Ashley acquires Sofa.com
Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has acquired Sofa.com for a “nominal sum”, adding yet another business to his growing portfolio of high street retailers. According to a report by Sky News, the acquisition will enable Ashley to add further Sofa.com concessions to the House of Fraser (HoF) chain he bought…
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