Former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley makes ‘flurry of investments’ as Frasers Group splurges cash

Former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has made a 'flurry of investments' as Frasers Group splurge on a £22 million stake in fashion group Boohoo.

Ever a controversial figure on Tyneside after his rocky 14-year stint at Newcastle United owner, Ashley was not known as being frivolous with money on the football side of his businesses.

Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct and fashion retailer Flannels, added the 5% Bohoo stake to their portfolio on Monday. The investment comes shortly after news the group had built a 9% stake in electrical retailer Currys.

Ashley is known to enjoy taking over struggling brands having done so with the likes of House of Fraser and Everlast in the past.

Over the past year, Frasers Group have also built a 21% stake in electrical goods retail company AO and a 10.6% stake in Asos, as well as Missguided and I Saw It First acquisitions over the past 12 months.

Ashley and his partners are trying to capitalise on a fall in stock prices at the companies which has come as the world bounces back from the Covid-19 pandemic and high street shops return to strength with delivery prices rising, as reported by The Guardian.

Frasers said: “Boohoo is an attractive proposition to us with its laser focus on young female consumers. We see potential synergies and an opportunity to strengthen our own brand proposition in collaboration with Boohoo, most obviously with Frasers Group brands I Saw It First and Missguided."

The former Newcastle United owner handed over the chief executive role of the group to son-in-law Michael Murray last year, who has led the Frasers Group growth.

Frasers said: “Under Michael Murray’s leadership, we continue to build on our long track record of establishing supportive shareholder positions in attractive retail companies.

“We have a clear strategy to identify opportunities to invest in businesses which complement our existing sport, premium and luxury businesses, or help us to build and further utilise our sector-leading ecosystem.”

Mike Ashley's tenure at Newcastle United ended in October 2021 when a group led by the equally-controversial Saudi Public Investment Fund led a £305 million takeover of the club.

Despite not leaving surrounded by love from Magpies fans, Ashley told The Sun he fought 'tooth and nail' to see the takeover through and had the club's best interests at heart.

He said: “I received a higher offer for the club than the one that I accepted. It was from another reputable bidder who made a credible case … But I felt the bid that we accepted from the current new owners would deliver the best for Newcastle United. Money wasn’t my only consideration. There were times when I stepped in financially to keep Newcastle United afloat.

“We ensured the wage bills were paid when we went down in order that we could bounce straight back up. Nobody was happier than me when we achieved immediate promotion.”

“I’ve known for some time now that many Newcastle fans were frustrated by the situation and were in favour of a change. I therefore felt that I owed it to the fans to fight tooth and nail over the last 18 months or so to make this happen.”