Frasers Group Targets Australia And Builds Up Stake In Hugo Boss

Rapidly expanding U.K. apparel-to-sportswear retailer Frasers Group is continuing its ecommerce acquisition spree after making an offer for Australian flash sales site MySale.

The move reflects a major push into online retailing and its aim to grow its international operations, while recently the company also upped its stake in premium fashion retailer Hugo Boss.

Frasers Group has a diverse portfolio of sport, fitness, premium lifestyle and luxury goods in over 20 countries and operations in physical stores and e-commerce. The company has ambitions plans to grow its business outside of the U.K. and is looking for further international expansion through acquisitions, joint ventures and organic openings.

The retail group is already MySale’s largest shareholder with a 28.7% holding and has offered 2.37c per share for the online retailer, valuing the total shares not held by Frasers Group at $16.1 million.

Frasers Group is seeking to buy the flash sales website as it looks to expand across Australia and New Zealand. It plans to use MySale as a platform for other investments in the region, including retail opportunities.

Frasers also believes that the MySale site could be used to clear end-of-line products from across the group.

The retailer snapped up its existing stake on 29 June, three years after it sold its previous holding in the business.

In making the bid, Frasers pointed out that its 2.37c offer represented a 60% premium on the 1.48c per share that MySale was trading at prior to its latest share acquisition. After a brief surge yesterday, MySale’s shares were trading at around 2.70c today, although they have traded as high as circa 7c this year.

Frasers Group Expands Ecommerce

If the offer is accepted, it would be Frasers’ fourth ecommerce acquisition this year. It has already snapped up fast fashion disruptor Missguided, bought Studio out of administration, and late last month bought ISawItFirst.com from the brother of Boohoo founder Mahmud Kamani.

Frasers Group recently appointed Greg Pateras as CEO of Missguided and ISawItFirst.com. Pateras was CEO of ISawItFirst at the time Frasers Group acquired it, and he will oversee the group’s Manchester-based fashion brands, according to a memo seen by U.K. retail title Retail Gazette.

It is understood that Missguided founder Nitin Passi, who Frasers Group re-hired as CEO of the business eight weeks after it bought the business out of administration, will continue working with Missguided as a consultant.

Ex-Matalan deputy CEO Pateras joined ISawItFirst as executive director last summer and took on the CEO role in November, tasked with selling the business.

He will now spearhead growing the two online fashion brands, having led the digital transformation of discount apparel retailer Matalan, where he successfully quadrupled ecommerce sales. Before that he was CFO of online giant Shop Direct, now called The Very Group.

Frasers Builds Hugo Boss Stake

Frasers Group has continued to expand across both the physical and online channels and in June the group upped its stake in Hugo Boss and now holds 3.4 million shares of common stock, representing 4.9% of Hugo Boss’s share capital, and 18.3 million shares of common stock via the sale of put options, representing a further 26% stake.

Frasers first took a stake in Hugo Boss in 2020 and has consistently stated its support for its management. The British sportswear and apparel retailer said its maximum aggregate exposure in connection with its interests was about $937 million.

“This investment reflects Frasers Group’s belief in the Hugo Boss brand, strategy and management team. Frasers Group continues to intend to be a supportive stakeholder and create value in the interests of both Frasers Group’s and Hugo Boss’ shareholders,” Frasers said in June.

Frasers Group has also begun to expand its operational capabilities in Europe, with a new development site in Bitburg, Germany set to open in the coming years to support growth across continental Europe.