Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has raised its bid for Mulberry just days after its latest takeover bid for the luxury handbag retailer was rejected.
The revised offer, which was submitted 10 October, values Mulberry at £111m up from its initial £83m bid, with shareholders being offered 150p per share in cash – a 50% premium on the luxury retailer’s recent fundraising price.
On 1 October, Mulberry rejected the initial bid as its board said the offer “does not recognise the company’s substantial future potential value”.
Last Friday, Frasers acquired around four million Mulberry shares at 100p each through clawback provisions, slightly raising its stake in the business to between 36.9% and 37.3%.
Under UK takeover rules, the Sports Direct owner has 28 October to make a firm offer for the retailer or walk away.
The latest move came hours after Frasers snapped up £10m of shares in online retail group THG as part of a £95.4m fundraising by the MyProtein owner as it looks to split off its technology division Ingenuity.
The firm was looking to raise £75m through an equity raise, share placing and subscription offer, but admitted on Friday it had overshot that target by 27%, raising £95.4m.
Existing shareholders contributed around £50m to the fundraise, led by CEO Matthew Moulding, who invested £10m.
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