Mulberry has rejected Frasers Group’s increased takeover bid of £111m as tensions rise between the group’s major shareholder and the Flannels owner.
The luxury handbag retailer said it had considered the position of majority shareholder Challice, which said last week that it had “no interest in either selling its Mulberry shares to Frasers or providing Frasers with any irrevocable or other undertaking with regards the possible offer”.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mulberry said: “After careful consideration with its advisers and in light of the above, the board is unanimously of the view that the possible offer is untenable and that the company should focus its attention on driving the commercial performance of the business.”
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It comes as Frasers submitted a revised cash offer earlier this month of 150p for each share that it does not currently own, which values the bid at £111m, up from its original offer of £83m.
Mulberry reiterated an earlier statement it made at the end of September: “We believe that the combination of the appointment of a new CEO, our new debt facility and the capital raising announced today will put the group on a firm footing to ensure we are well set up for future growth.”
Frasers has until 28 October to announce a firm offer for the group or state it does not intend to make an offer.
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