Frasers Group ups stakes in Asos and Boohoo

Mike Ashley’s retail giant Frasers Group has continued its streak of securing larger and larger stakes in struggling rivals, this time upping its holding of both Asos and Boohoo.

In the group’s latest regulatory filings, it announced that it had taken its stake in Boohoo from the prior 17.2 percent to 21.4 percent.

Meanwhile, for Asos, Frasers now holds a 17.1 percent stake, up from the former 16.4 percent.

Over the past year, the conglomerate, which also owns stakes in the likes of Mulberry, Hugo Boss and N Brown, has been quietly snapping up more shares in rivals as part of a wider portfolio expansion.

It first acquired a stake in Boohoo, the parent company of Karen Millen, Nasty Gal and Prettylittlething, back in June 2023, calling the fast fashion group “an attractive proposition” for its laser focus on young female consumers.

Meanwhile, for Asos, the appeal came initially in the form of a future potential partnership with the company, at a time when the e-tailer had already initiated an ongoing turnaround plan amid a lacklustre trading performance over the past year.

It is one of the many struggling companies that Frasers has expressed an interest in, with the group having previously acquired the likes of Missguided, Studio Retail and I Saw It First, rescuing each of them from their own financial woes.