Member Info for FED1

I would have thought trade credit insurance would be the first to go.

Surely it hasn’t spent £50m in three weeks.

If things are somehow grim in terms of liquidity, it would necessitate a rapid disposal of PLT.

I would speculate that Ashley has a direct line to The Telegraph.

If he were to bid, then he could wait until November as he bought shares at 32p in November 2024. However, I think a 100% premium would be required.

I hope Dan can announce a PLT deal in 1H results and give us some guidance on annual savings from closing Burnley. My instincts tell me we are not getting 1H results until end November.

I have to admit to be slightly confused by Telegraph article. It has just recapitalised and has liquidity to buy inventory and pay suppliers. It also has passed 1H date of 31 August 2025 so it doesn’t need to make liquidity seem higher.

Maybe the RCF takes time to call down? I do think inventories were very low at year end so maybe it is struggling for stock to sell and creditors haven’t supplied funds yet.

Call me Fed. Fed1 is formal.

I disagree though. Debs needs bricks and mortar. Needs someone with a big balance sheet and real estate.

Kamani is an obstacle.

Even Dan doesn’t care about Youth Brands. Let’s split business.

i actually buy a lot m&s. went to zara and also good.

let’s be honest. debs is being *****d out. the decent thing to do is sell it to frasers.

online powerhouse (ahem knock-off watches).

I don’t shop on Debs.

I have an Amazon Prime subscription. I also have a lot in Boots, Tescos, etc reward points. I shop in TK Maxx, Aldi, Tesco, Waitrose. Mainly Amazon.

Let’s be honest, Boo are not good custodians of Debenhams brand.

Mt11,

All due respect, Dan did not build up its GMV with knock-off watches.

Debs has huge nostalgia with UK consumers who grew up in past 40yrs. I went clubbing in 90s in my paisley John Rocha shirt on a Thursday night. My mum took me as a youngster to the canteen on second floor with her friend in Arndale centre. Canteen was outside knitting wool dept. I bought my first Loake shoes for city job in Blue X sale.

Dan is riding the coattails of this. He didn’t build Debs into a powerhouse. Nonsense

While Dan is looking up synonyms for powerhouse……

I’m sorry, but Dan is bad at this. He thinks a slick media video or marketing update will save Debs. All the while, a vulture is circling.

Frasers cannot acquire 100% of Boo.

However, for 32p it may be a consolidated subsidiary. He can’t lose Debs then.

Bizarrely, the mgmt team has hammered down share price by poor comms. That’s how they lose control.

Dan and Kamani are corporate numpties.

If I was Mike Ashley’s adviser, I would tell him to make bid for all shares at 32p (the equity raising price from last November). I tell Mike to wait until after Frasers AGM next week. Obviously most shareholder will decline but he may get 40-60%.

It’s a win-win. Share price doubles and he probably get rid of Kamani on cheap. This ain’t going bankrupt. Frasers could probably use Burnley and Sheffield.

Mt11,

I completely understand why the BoD want to lawyer-up against Frasers and that getting a board member is cost effective legal counsel.

However, why did the ex-Matalan and Littlewoods CEO who describes himself as a retail turnaround specialist leave? Maybe health issues? Maybe the rest of the Board thought he wasnt helpful. Or maybe the exiting director doesn't believe.

The bigger issue is the commercial advisers on BoD seem to be in Kamani's circle. Some have good CVs. What I would like to see is a truely independent, retailing heavy-weight to counter balance the boy's club. He just left.

The retail turnaround guru has left the BoD in place of a business litigation lawyer.

https://www.retailtrust.org.uk/trustees/alistair-mcgeorge/787.article

https://www.proveniolaw.com/

Ermmmm?

Last year when the Boo Board has such a resounding victory over Frasers proxy battle, I thought that Boo went to the institutions and disclosed its credible plan. Maybe Camelot has beef with Ashley but Schroders would be more aligned to retail investors.

Then nothing. Tumble-weed as share price fell as speculation rose on a liquidity issue.

I am staggered that ex Kamani clan, Kamani still managed to get 97% of the vote (from those who voted). And Schroders and Camelot are backing BoD when the share price has more than halved since last November.

It makes no sense how Kamani can achieve such support from institutions given the character assassinations from The Telegraph, the poor shareholder comms, and the tardiness of the BoD to deliver.

It is a shame that the ex Matalan director left. He was the most credible professional retailer on Board. Now we have another lawyer!!!!

Bfd,

I would have thought so. I use to work in buyside back in the day. Although we had a Corp Gov team, ultimately the Fund Mgr or assigned analyst would have final say. Corp Gov wasnt a big thing until ESG investing in the 2010s. I suspect it is a bit more regimental in an institution the size of Schroders.

Schroders has 71m shares. Assuming Schroders voted all its shares in same way and did not Abstain. It is probable they voted For Kamani's re-election (otherwise Abstained) as only 9.7m ex Frasers voted Against. Therefore, we can assume it voted For resolution 2 as the difference between resolution 4 and 2 is 53m votes.

I would be interested to know how Schroders, a custodian of retail investors savings, is fulfilling its commitments to The Stewardship Code and its own publicly available Corporate Governance Guidelines.

Page 19 of Schroders Stewardship Code: Did the Escalation Committee meet to discuss Remuneration Report which was a cause of concern for two reputable bodies (ISS and Glass Lewis)?

https://mybrand.schroders.com/m/5cee97824fd84616/original/607754_SC_IDD_Stewardship-Report-01092023.pdf

Does the Board composition of Debenhams Group Plc meet its own definition of majority independent as according to its Voting Principles (page 3)?

https://mybrand.schroders.com/m/22ba7315c2a0cb4f/original/615750_SC_IDD_Global-Voting-Guidelines-JUL25.pdf

Frasers has 415m shares

Mahmud Kamani: 174.5m (12.49%)

Rabia Kamani: 54m (3.86%)

Umar Kamani: 50m (3.58%

Carol Kane: 27.8m (1.99%)

Other Estimated Concert Parties: 28.7m (2.05%)

Total Kamani Clan: 335m (24%)

If we look at two resolutions and strip out Kamani Clan and Frasers:

Resolution 2: Dan's Remuneration: 286m For (82%) and 62.8m Against (18%)

Resolution 4: Kamani's Re-election: 339m For (97%) and 9.7m For (3%)

Camelot has 112.9m shares and Schroders has 71m shares. The difference in For shares for resolution 2 versus 4 is 53m shares. This implies both institutions voted For in Resolution 2 as well.

Conclusion: We are screwed.

It be interesting to know split if both Kamani & Concert Parties and Frasers are stripped out.

This 99% of investors who are not a competitor sounds like spin.

Anyone know how many shares Kamani & Concert have?

I hope Dan can sort out this strategic steps by FY-26 end.

Potentially lay off 1200 people is massive. Similarly is disposing of Burnley DC for annualised cost savings.

If it can use proceeds, along with PLT disposal, to pay down RCF and thus remove interest payments, then this may quickly turn a cash generative business.

The basis for a turnaround are there.