// Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group will not make an offer for Mulberry
// Shares in Mulberry fell 11% following announcement
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group on Thursday announced it will not make a formal offer for Mulberry, wiping £15m off its value.
Shares in Mulberry fell 11 per cent to 214p by 4pm yesterday on the back of Frasers Group’s announcement.
The luxury accessories and fashion retailer was placed into an offer period after Frasers Group raised its stake to 36.8 per cent of the business in late November.
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In a deal believed to be worth £6.45 million, Frasers Group acquired 4.3 million shares in Mulberry from Iceland’s Kaupthing.
At the time, Frasers Group noted that the Takeover Panel had waived the usual requirement for a shareholder to make a bid on the entire company when a stake of more than 29.9 per cent is acquired.
This is due to the fact that Mulberry’s biggest shareholder Challice owns a 56 per cent stake in the business.
However, Frasers Group said at the time that it was “reserving its right to make a voluntary offer for the company”.
Under the panel’s rules, the group has 28 days, until December 17 to announce a firm intention to make an offer for the company.
In a statement on Friday, Mulberry noted that it is not longer in an offer period.
“We continue to make significant progress in building Mulberry as a sustainable global luxury brand, creating value for all our stakeholders,” Mulberry chairman Godfrey Davis said.
“This is focused around our omni-channel network and market leading digital platform; increasing our Asian footprint; and a relentless focus on innovation and sustainability, offering our customers beautiful products, made to last in our Somerset factories,” David added.
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