House of Fraser has been bought by Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct (LON:for £90m.
Having earlier announcing its was going into administration the department store was in dire straits after a potential Chinese buyer pulled out.
Had Sports Direct not swooped in, 17,500 jobs were at risk of being lost.
In addition, Mike Ashley was at risk of taking a hit on an existing 11% stake in House of Fraser.
Sports Direct also has a stake in Debenhams and now has a significant exposure to the UK high street.
Sports Direct said in a release:
“The group has acquired all of the UK stores of House of Fraser, the House of Fraser brand and all of the stock in the business.”
Sport Direct has been in a bullish mood recently with House of Fraser adding to a recent acquisition of shares in Iconix Brand Group. Iconix Brand Group is a predominately US facing group with brands such as Lee Cooper, Echo, Rocawear, Zoo York and Umbro.
Sports Direct share fell on Friday morning trade, down 0.7% to 404p.
