Ashley bids £27m to snap up ailing Agent Provocateur

MIKE Ashley has lodged a bid for struggling Agent Provocateur.

The founder of Sports Direct has made a £27.5m offer for the lingerie retailer, according to reports.

He’s the latest suitor to eye the underwear chain and his rivals are believed to include private equity firms Lion Capital and Terra Firma Capital Partners, and French women’s brand Etam.

Talks between Agent Provocateur’s lender, Barclays, and leading bidder Lion Capital, stalled over the weekend – paving the way for Ashley to clinch a deal. People close to the process, which is being run by AlixPartners on behalf

of Barclays and 3i – Agent Provocateur’s current owner – insisted on Monday that it remained a two-horse race, adding the outcome remained unclear.

Agent Provocateur (modelled by

Abbey Clancy, pictured) has been hit by a fall in tourist spending and restructuring costs.

Last November 3i wrote down the value of its 80pc stake in the company by £39m, claiming the retailer’s performance had been hampered by a store expansion programme and the discovery of accounting issues, which had forced it to pump £4m of further investment into the business.