Frasers to launch fresh bid for XXL
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is to make a mandatory offer for Norway’s XXL, the retailer confirmed on Tuesday, just weeks after abandoning its pursuit of the sporting goods specialist.
Frasers Group
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16:40 20/03/25
FTSE 250
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Xxl Asa
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An XXL shareholder, late last year Frasers tabled an offer worth 10 Norwegian kroner per share - or NOK 246.36m (£18.01m) in total - to take full control of the business.
It dropped the approach when other large shareholders made it known they would not back the bid.
But on Tuesday, Frasers - the owner of Sports Direct and Jack Wills, among others - confirmed it had taken part in a rights issue XXL launched in January, increasing its stake to 32.9% and so triggering a mandatory offer.
Under Norwegian trading rules, if an investor owns more than a third of the allocated shares, they are obligated to make a bid for the remaining stock.
In brief statements to the London and Oslo Stock Exchanges, Frasers said it would own a total of 32.9% of all shares, and around 40.8% of the voting A shares, upon registration of the new share capital and delivery of the allocated shares.
It therefore would be making a mandatory offer, having crossed the one-third threshold.
It did not provide any further details, other than to confirm a further announcement would be made "in due course".
As at noon GMT, shares in Frasers were up 2% at 646p, while XXL had surged 16% to over NOK 13.