Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group buys Studio Retail out of administration
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has bought Studio Retail out of administration for £26.8m, saving almost 1,500 jobs after its shareholding in the online specialist was wiped out.
Frasers, which owns Sports Direct, House of Fraser department stores, Evans Cycles and the Flannels designer fashion chain, said the acquisition would provide the group with the “expertise and synergies” that would help its ambition to provide more flexible payment options.
Studio Retail, which sells a mix of cut-price own-brand products from clothing and furnishings to gifts and cards, offers shoppers an account where they can choose to spread payments over many months.
The group, formerly known as Findel, called in administrators to its publicly listed holding company on Thursday, wiping out shareholders led by Fraser Group, which had held near 30% stake.
That came after shares in the group, which had a market value of about £100m, were suspended last week when the group said a request for a £25m loan had been turned down by its bank HSBC.
The collapse of Studio Retail marks the latest in a sorry list of stock market investments for Ashley’s retail empire.
The group took a hit of at least £150m on its near 30% stake in Debenhams when the then-listed department store called in administrators in 2019 while its 19% stake in Goals Soccer centre was wiped out when the five-a-side football pitch operator delisted after an accounting scandal.
Ashley’s empire also bought out Game Digital, the games retailer, where it built a near 40% stake as sales fell because gamers were increasingly bypassing physical stores to buy online.
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