Julian Dunkerton’s six-month campaign to wrestle back control of Superdry ended in stunning success for the brand’s co-founder. Now, he may have to deal with an insurgency of his own.
Hong Kong-based activist fund Oasis made a decisive intervention in Dunkerton’s re-election campaign, quietly building a small stake and then voting in his favour in April last year. Some 16 months later and Superdry’s shares have fallen by three-quarters to £1.35. Awkward.
Now a second activist has waded in. Gatemore Capital, which has lobbed grenades at retail bosses in the recent past, took a 3% stake in July. Between them, the activists own more than 8% of the clothing company’s shares; Dunkerton has 18.5%.
For now, both remain supportive — he cannot be blamed for