Member Info for alex1621

I think there is too much talk about the SP and expectations of it rising based on a backdrop of very poor trading numbers. I don’t see that changing until sales start to grow and the cost base is aligned to allow a return to profit. I don’t think that is impossible but it is a long way off. Everything else being equal there is no reason for shorters to disappear.

However, any news on asset sales (at strong prices) or takeover bids will change matters - and I can’t see much SP upward movement unless that happens. I’m also interested to know what the impact of tough China tariffs will have on the competition and/or changes to the de minimis rules that give Shein and Temu an advantage. Any major move could be a game changer.

Parsnip - Ashley cannot go hostile on Mulberry because the Ong family from Singapore own 54% of the shares. He made a decent second offer hoping that they would accept it. But they are very wealthy and long term investors. They have no need to sell. They want to execute their own plan.

It is a little different with Boohoo, as the Kamani clan cannot block the offer unless they have institutional support, and Institutions tend to sell if the price is right. The hope is that if Ashley does this he faces some competition. But I think he has much more chance of being successful here as he knows retail shareholders are not happy.

"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"

Lenin

Looks like Ashley is raising money? 6% of Frasers is around £207m. Perhaps he will team up with other interested parties?

There is no way he would have accepted the Board’s terms for participation, so this looks like an obvious path to take. I don’t expect any initial offer that he makes to be good. In the next update the Board will talk up the value of the brands. All we need now is another interested party.

The results won't be great, a bit like ASOS, but we already know that from the last update. Having said that they did want to provide more information on the brands, and I suspect they will be trying to provide evidence of the "undervaluation" that is not being recognised by the share price. I suspect it will be some forecast on where they think Debenhams/Karen Millen can grow to. To be fair it looks as if the Debenhams market place is well ahead of expectations, and it gets more valuable the greater the GMV number.

The fashion brands are being crushed by the rise of Shein, but I can't help thinking that Shein are only a tariff and/or regulatory change away from losing their competitive advantage. If that ever did happen then Boohoo would recover very strongly. I watched an interview with a Trump representative this evening and she seemed to indicate that he would be rolling out tariffs straight out of the gate. China will be hit harder than the rest -Shein and Temu came to mind. They are also a potential bidder for the group or particular brands.

It will be interesting to see what the newspapers, analysts and commentators think of this move ... probably tomorrow morning.

That was interesting. It looks as if they are trying to put Ashley in a straight-jacket, giving him very little room for movement. The problem is that if he agreed he would have to sit by and watch someone else walk away with assets. If an outside interest offered £200m for an asset, that would prevent Ashley from offering £210m.

So all Ashley can do is watch from the sidelines as Boohoo sell off assets, but he will not be able to participate in that process, just check that the deal was on commercial terms.

There is not a snowball's chance in hell of him agreeing to those terms. The obvious response is to make an offer for the company. This could get interesting. But I am glad that Ashley is involved because both parties are not able to act contrary to shareholder's interests.

I wasn’t looking to start a heated debate but am making the point that we have no reason to believe the Kamani’s are working in our best interests.

I don’t believe Ashley cares much either, but we find ourselves in a situation where his interests align with our own.

To some extent the two ensure that one won’t be able to easily rip off the other. We might find when this is over that any takeover or disposals were done fairly. And that is better than if the Kamani’s had free reign.

The silence was deafening? I answered your question almost immediately.

The set up of a new Company suggested the “strategic review” is a cover story for a plan that is already in place.

We have the surprise return of Umar followed by the exit of Lyttle.

Now we have Ashley on the rampage because he smells a rat. As Boohoo pointed out he originally suggested a non executive, and he has gone from that to asking for two directors, one of whom being him as CEO … “all in”. And now warnings about independent valuations and legal actions? You can be sure Ashley is closer to this than any of us.

As none of us are privy to internal discussions that is as much as we can say. But to suggest there is no evidence is beyond the pale. The evidence is staring you in the face.

To the Kamani point, the recent set up of a new company at Companies House suggests that the so-called “strategic review” is a cover story for an asset grab. It strikes me that the review has already taken place, and that’s why Umar has reappeared on the scene and John Lyttle has left the business. Ashley has been in the retail business a very long time and understands how break ups work and what the risks are - and I think his read on what the Kamani’s are planning is bang on point.

So I no longer trust Kamani, and like Ashley I don’t think he or the board actually care about what’s good for shareholders. If they cared they wouldn’t have come up with that obscene bonus scheme, which would be in place today if it wasn’t for Ashley. You may well still have faith in them, I do not.

Ashley has a ready made outlet for Karen Millen brand, the Frasers stores. He has also been buying up shopping centres, which would be good venues for Debenhams. Both brands could develop better as bricks and clicks, and I suspect that the marketplace could expand even farther than it has. Some of the fashion brands could be developed or sold off to the likes of Shein.

I think Ashley has more scope for making a success of it than Kamani. It appears to me that Kamani is looking to cherry pick assets on the cheap and leave shareholders in the lurch. Ashley obviously thinks that too. The letter and warning to non executives makes that very clear. I think retail shareholders have given Kamani the benefit of the doubt for too long, he is only working in his own interests.

I don’t believe the Kamani’s have the funds to buy out the company, but it looks to me that they want to buy some assets at a lowball price. So I am glad that Ashley is holding 27%, and will hold them and non executives to account.

Imagine if Ashley was not a holder? Every retail investor would have to sit and watch the Board offload assets to the Kamani’s and friends at lowball prices. That was a nice reminder to Board members that they have personal responsibilities and personal liabilities should they rubber stamp asset sales for prices not in the interests of shareholders.

I appreciate that Ashley has his own agenda but his participation lessens the chance that retail shareholders will be stiffed by the Board.

I think Ashley will be heading the “Stop the Steal” campaign on behalf of shareholders. That suggests he doesn’t have the numbers for an EGM? So perhaps he doesn’t have institutional support yet?

Yes, it did cross my mind that we are much closer to the de minimus rules being abandoned. First the US, then Europe. Given the damage done by them to UK retail I can't see the UK not following the others.

Yes, no point in using a Board that's full of personal sniping over issues that are unimportant. You could all get a whats app group going and snipe at each other every minute.

There appears to be some speculation over Burberry, with Moncler being named as the potential bidder. Despite that the SP is only up 6%, although it’s been drifting upwards for a while.

You don’t tend to see big moves until the bid is announced. It’s a shorted company, so they are in dangerous territory. Luxury retail moves in cycles and in this down cycle it looks pretty cheap.

I haven’t read any recent reports that the Kamani family are looking to take rage company private (apart from years ago)? And nothing about Middle East involvement? Where did that come from?

Umar coming back, the set up of a new company at Companies House and the strategic review lend me to believe that PLT might be his target. But if they do they will try to hive off assets as cheaply as possible. Don’t expect any of the directors to push back at them.

Over to you Mike Ashley.

A Shein bid would be ideal, for those who want an exit. But I doubt it will come before listing. It would certainly throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

I’m a bit concerned it turns into a messy affair.

I agree with Fatman83. If Ashley decided to bid don't expect it to be a big number. The first offer will be insulting to most. The Kamani's will try to make him drive it upwards.

I'd prefer it if he had a bit of competition. The positive about his involvement is that the Kamani's cannot pull a fast one without being dragged through courts. To some extent, they make each other honest. Or as honest as they need to be.