Frasers Group now holds over 15% of Boohoo

Frasers Group is continuing its stake-building in Boohoo Group as the latter’s share price continues to slumber.

Despite the share price rising slightly on Monday, it remains below 30p, well down from the more-than-£4 it fetched just a few months after the first lockdowns began.

Earlier this month it emerged that its holding had risen to 13.43% from 10.42%. And a stock exchange filing on Monday showed it now holds 15.12%. 

The previous purchase had already made Frasers the single largest shareholder in Boohoo.

Frasers has made no official comment on the stake-building recently, although CEO Michael Murray did say that he’s the one in the driving seat of the current round of share purchases.

That came in an interview with the Telegraph this month in which Murray insisted majority Frasers shareholder Mike Ashley isn’t behind the purchases, although he said he wouldn’t yet explain the reasoning behind the decisions to buy stakes in Boohoo and other firms.

He said the investments are “mid-flight. All I can do is talk about how it looks very obvious afterwards. Flannels was an acquisition, and now it seems normal that Flannels is a part of Frasers Group. And Game, you think: why would you buy 30% of Game? Afterwards, it’s all very obvious.”

Frasers has also built up a near-20% stake in Boohoo rival ASOS, as well as big holdings in Hugo Boss and Mulberry, and stakes in non-fashion retailers.