Sports Direct International plc (LON:SPD) said on Monday that it had made an offer for Goals Soccer Centres.
Shares in Sports Direct were up during trading on Monday morning.
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct said in a statement that it had made a possible cash offer of 5 pence per share “for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Goals, not already held by Sports Direct”.
Sports Direct already holds a significant stake in the soccer centre operator.
Shares in the soccer centre operator were suspended back in March.
Goals Soccer Centres was put up for sale at the end of August following accounting issues.
Earlier in August, it was revealed that the accounting issues were much deeper than expected – a £12 million tax accounting scandal that stems back at least a decade.
“Sports Direct is the largest shareholder in Goals, with an 18.93% shareholding. Goals has had some well-publicised difficulties and its shares are currently suspended from trading on AIM,” Mike Ashley’s retail company said in a statement.
Sports Direct said that if its offer is progressed, then it would “provide shareholders with an exit and allow them to determine what is fair value and in their best interests”.
According to Sky News, Goals Soccer Centres employs roughly 700 people and had a market value of £20 million when shares were suspended.
Earlier in July of this year, Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct faced some problems with the publication of its preliminary results, sending shares down. It blamed the complexities surrounding the integration of House of Fraser, which it had purchased the year prior, for the delay in the publication of the results.
One analyst called the delay of the results “an utter shambles,” according to the BBC.
Shares in Sports Direct International plc (LON:SPD) were trading at +0.072 as of 10:09 BST Monday.
