Frasers prepares ground for takeover of Australian retailer MySale

Frasers Group owner of Sports Direct and Missguided has edged ever closer to a takeover of Australian flash sales site MySale taking its stake in the retailer to nearly 50% in the past week.

The high street giant, that also owns the House of Fraser department store chain and Jack Wills, said that since September 26 it had acquired 100,000,000 MySale shares from investment business Jackson Family Capital and bought 62,145,385 MySale shares from former vice-chairman and founder of the retailer Jamie Jackson.

It had also swapped its interest in “contracts for difference” into 1,400,000 MySale Shares and taken 13,161,748 MySale shares by “means of market or other purchases”.

Frasers is currently offering 2p for each MySale share, down on the £1 and above  price stock was trading at last year and a steep decline on the £18 level set in 2017.

The retailer has now put pressure on shareholders with existing stock in the online sales platform to accept its lowball offer and has floated the possibility of de-listing the company from the alternative investment market (AIM) if its offer to buyout the company isn’t accepted. Frasers would have to acquire significantly more stock in MySale to attempt that strategy.

Frasers said that if it received “acceptances” from shareholders under the “mandatory offer” that it would “exercise its rights” to “acquire compulsorily” the remaining shares on the same terms as the offer.

Last month, Frasers Group takeover bid for the Australian discounter, backed by fellow rag trade titan Sir Philip Green, was rejected as the business did not consider terms “fair” or “reasonable” and did not “reflect an adequate value or premium for control of MySale and therefore undervalues MySale and its prospects”.

Mike Ashley, the patriarch of Frasers, announced he was to take a less active role at the retailer stepping back from the board only weeks ago.