It has been revealed that Sports Direct purchased an 11 per cent stake in the struggling fashion brand French Connection.
This could spell further turbulence for latter brand, as the 10.7 million shares bought by Mike Ashley‘s Sports Direct will grant the sportswear giant the ability to disrupt takeover bids.
This comes after the company‘s largest shareholder Schroders‘ offloaded its 9.27 per cent stake to a “mystery buyer” yesterday.
Reports indicate Ashley could have been Schroder’s mystery buyer, acquiring another two per cent on the open market.
READ MORE: French Connection’s 2nd largest shareholder sells entire stake
It is unclear whether Sports Direct could make a bid for French Connection, although it is renowned for buying strategic stakes in rival companies like Debenhams and JD Sports.
French Connection‘s boss Stephen Marks is under increasing pressure from shareholders to relinquish his dual role as executive chairman and chief executive, and to make more effective efforts to plug the financial hemorrhaging.
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