// Frasers Group billionaire Mike Ashley is considering making a bid for fashion retailer Jaeger
// Jaeger is part of rival Philip Day’s struggling Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group
Mike Ashley has reportedly considered making a bid for ailing fashion retailer Jaeger in an effort to boost his acquisition spree.
Jaeger is part of rival Philip Day’s struggling Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, which recently secured another grace period of 10 days before the retail empire falls into administration.
Over 20,000 jobs are at risk if the group – which also owns the Peacocks and Edinburgh Woollen Mill chains – files for administration.
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Ashley, whose Frasers Group also owns Sports Direct, is interested in taking over Jaeger, Austin Reed and Jacques Vert, which employ 2000 people between them, The Sunday Times reported.
Last week, it was reported that TM Lewin’s parent company Torque Brands, Simba Sleep co-founder James Cox and Jaeger’s former owner Harold Tillman were among the bidders for Day’s Jaeger brand.
The investors who bought shirt-maker TM Lewin earlier this year are in talks to acquire Jaeger.
Jaeger was founded in 1884 and started out by selling long johns.
Day bought the company out of administration in 2017.
He is currently trying to retain control of Peacocks, aided by a capital injection from the US hedge fund Davidson Kempner.
The deal means Peacocks would be acquired out of administration, with its worst-performing stores axed, led by EWM’s chief, Steve Simpson, and backed by Day.
Peacocks has about 400 stores and would be run alongside Bonmarché, the struggling womenswear retailer fashion chain that Day acquired this year which sits outside the EWM group.
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