Frasers Group has made a £1.7 billion bid to buy Hugo Boss.
Mike Ashley’s listed retail group has offered cash for the 74% of the legendary German fashion designer firm it does not already own.
Listed firm Hugo Boss makes high-quality men’s and women’s apparel, shoes and accessories.
The offer is for €38 per share. Under German takeover law, if Frasers reaches a shareholding of 30% or more in the share capital and voting rights of Hugo Boss, it would be required to make a mandatory offer for all the shares not held by Frasers.
Subject to regulatory clearances, Frasers expects the offer to complete in the second half of 2026.
Frasers CEO Michael Murray is a member of the supervisory board of Hugo Boss and as such he did not participate in the board’s discussion of the offer.
Frasers, which counts Sports Direct and GAME among its brands, says Hugo Boss is one of the top five brands across its group. It is a long-term investor in Hugo Boss and said it remains supportive of both Stephan Sturm, the chair of the supervisory board, and Daniel Grieder, CEO.
Frasers has entered into an acquisition facility agreement with, among others, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., National Westminster Bank plc and Standard Chartered Bank as lenders.
This gives Frasers a credit line, if required, for the purpose of the offer and paying associated acquisition costs. Frasers may also finance part or all of the offer from its existing term loan and revolving credit facility.
The gross assets of Hugo Boss at the end of 2025 amounted to €3.7bn, with net assets of almost €1.6bn. It reported revenues of almost €4.3bn and EBITDA of €782 million.