Frasers Group founder Mike Ashley said he is “all in” to turnaround Boohoo Group after the retail entrepreneur made a public bid for the fashion giant’s vacant CEO position last week.
Ashley told The Sunday Times: “I am all in. I’m ready to dedicate my time and effort – including basing myself in Manchester as much as I deem required – to turn Boohoo around and deliver value for all shareholders.”
“The focus here needs to be on urgent and decisive action to sort out the mess that Boohoo is in after suffering serious mismanagement.
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“The resignation of their CEO and the announcement of a disastrous refinancing was the final straw.”
Ashley’s Frasers Group started buying up shares in Boohoo Group in June last year and currently holds a 27% stake in the fashion giant.
The Sports Direct owner demanded the fast fashion giant appoint him as CEO in an open letter last week, among other requests, as a solution to what he termed a “leadership crisis” driven by the retailer’s “incompetence”.
Frasers said it believed the terms of the £222m debt refinancing deal that Boohoo signed earlier this month was “wholly unsatisfactory” and is a “step backward for the company and an appalling outcome for shareholders”.
However, Boohoo claimed the characterisation of the deal, which extended its loan repayment by several months and a £97m debt repayable in ten months, was “inaccurate and unfair”.
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