Mike Ashley has confirmed he will act as consultant to Hornby in a bid to boost its value to shareholders.
Frasers Group increased its stake in the model railway company to almost 9% in February, under a wider investment spree from the retail giant.
On Wednesday, Hornby informed shareholders that Ashley had entered a consultancy deal with the retailer through his private investment firm, Mash Holdings.
Hornby said the retail tycoon would “support” its CEO Olly Raeburn alongside the wider business, and confirmed his focus would be on its “systems, operations, logistics and, where relevant, broader matters of strategy”.
The deal is intended to boost “value for the respective shareholders of Hornby and Fraser Group”.
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
Hornby has seen its shares soar almost 140% since the start of this year, as a result of Frasers’ increasing interest in the business.
In February, Frasers finance chief Chris Wootton said Hornby had a portfolio of “unique heritage brands” and that it looked forward to “exploring opportunities to further leverage our scale in retail logistics and distribution”.
The retail empire has been restructuring its vast portfolio of brands of late. Last week, it called in administrators for Kids Cavern and Base Childrenswear – retailers it purchased from JD Sports as part of a £47.5m deal just over a year ago.
Earlier in March, the firm also put luxury etailer Matches into administration less than three months after buying it.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
