Ashley on the offensive in the battle for Debenhams

DEBENHAMS SHARES spiked on Friday after Mike Ashley launched an aggressive campaign to seize control of the retailer.

The company’s stock jumped as much as 40 per cent to 4.3p in early trading after the Sports Direct boss called for a clean sweep at the top of Debenhams and proposed installing himself as an executive.

Mr Ashley tabled a proposal on Thursday night for a shareholder meeting to remove “all of the current members of the Debenhams board”, other than finance chief Rachel Osborne.

Mr Ashley owns just under 30 per cent of Debenhams through Sports Direct.

Debenhams responded to the action early on Friday morning, saying it was “disappointed”.

The company said: “The board has been engaging with Sports Direct and our other stakeholders regarding options to restructure our balance sheet and is disappointed that Sports Direct has taken this action.

“In the meantime, discussions to address our future funding requirements are well advanced.”

If Mr Ashley’s plans are successful, he would step down from his position as chief executive of Sports Direct, though would retain his controlling 60 per cent stake in that company.

He would be replaced by deputy finance boss, Chris Wootton, in an acting capacity.