Frasers Group continues its acquisition spree: bid for Australia’s Accent Group

Barely a week after making a multibillion-dollar bid for luxury brand Hugo Boss, Frasers Group—the company owned by British billionaire Mike Ashley—has already launched a second takeover bid, this time for the Australian shoe retailer Accent Group.

Criticism of management

Frasers Group, which already holds a 22.9% stake in Accent, is making an offer worth approximately 192 million on the Australian shoe group. Last week, Ashley launched a bid of nearly 2 billion euros for the German fashion brand Hugo Boss. The group also owns Sports Direct, the Frasers department store chain, the Flannels fashion chain, and the Evans Cycles bicycle store chain.

Accent, listed on the Australian stock exchange, sells brands such as Skechers, Lacoste, and Hype in more than 800 stores. Last year, the company entered into an agreement with Frasers to launch and manage Sports Direct’s retail operations in Australia and New Zealand. Recently, Accent’s shares lost about a fifth of their value. Frasers criticized the company for paying out high dividends and high management bonuses despite its poor performance.