Muddled concepts never go down well with investors. Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group risks turning off shareholders with its patchwork approach to mergers and acquisitions.
This month’s spree has included a 21 per cent stake in AO World, the electricals retailer, a 9 per cent piece of its rival Currys and a 5 per cent holding in the fashion giant Boohoo. Distressed share prices are a common trait, a consequence of dire trading after a pandemic boom in online shopping. AO World, Frasers’ biggest recent splurge, lost £11.6 million over the first half of the year.
True, this isn’t uncharted territory for Frasers, which owns Sports Direct, House of Fraser, Flannels and Jack Wills. Its “strategic position” in Hugo Boss led to Frasers stocking its
