It’s been a wild week for Mahmud Kamani. On Tuesday, short-selling outfit Shadowfall spooked the market by claiming that Boohoo, the fast-fashion powerhouse Kamani co-founded in 2006, would have to pay up to £1bn to buy out the remaining 34% in subsidiary Pretty Little Thing.
Kamani hit back decisively on Thursday, announcing that the stake had been bought for less than £270m, potentially rising to £323.8m. After slumping midweek, Boohoo’s shares closed at an all-time high of 387p, valuing the company at £4.7bn — about 2½ times the size of Marks & Spencer.
Since its listing six years ago, Boohoo’s rise has been underpinned by rapid sales growth at industry-leading profit margins. Last year, sales soared 44% to £1.2bn.
Kamani, 55, struck gold with a