Frasers saves Missguided in £20m swoop
THE new boss of Frasers Group has hit the ground running by rescuing Missguided out of administration in a £20m deal.
Michael Murray made the swoop just weeks after taking the reins at the retail empire built by his father-in-law Mike Ashley – whose daughter Anna he married last month.
The swoop on Missguided was his first major move since taking charge at the £3.4bn company and folds the online fast fashion outlet into Frasers alongside Sports Direct, Jack Wills and House of Fraser.
The takeover keeps Frasers on the path set by Ashley, who now serves as chairman and majority owner with a 65pc stake. Ashley was notorious for taking bets on struggling retailers, picking them up out of administration in the hope of sparking a turnaround.
Ashley built Frasers from a single Sports Direct store in Maidenhead in 1982 to a sprawling empire of 34 brands employing 25,000 people.
He stepped back from being executive chairman at the end of April, handing the chief executive role to Murray, 32.
Doncaster-born Murray, a former nightclub promoter, began helping Ashley with personal property deals after meeting his daughter Anna on holiday in Majorca in 2011. They married last month.
Murray was anointed Ashley’s successor in August last year in a move that sparked allegations of nepotism and claims Frasers was being run as a personal fiefdom.
Shares yesterday closed up 1.1pc, or 7.5p, at 698.5p. Murray has been credited with driving the strategy to win over young shoppers and improving the company’s stores.
recently he insisted he was in the driving seat and Ashley is ‘not pulling the strings’.
retail analyst richard Hyman, at consultancy TPC, yesterday said the idea Ashley was not making decisions at the business was ‘preposterous’. He said: ‘If you are going to spend £20m I would think the main shareholder would have quite a big say.’
Missguided, which sells womenswear online and has annual sales of £287m, will be run for eight weeks by administrators before being taken on by Frasers as a standalone company.
Murray said: ‘Missguided’s digital-first approach to the latest trends in women’s fashion will bring additional expertise to the wider Frasers Group.’