Mike Ashley, the House of Fraser and Sports Direct owner, is considering a cut-price takeover bid for struggling Revolution Beauty – a move that would stoke animosity between himself and rival London-listed retailer Debenhams, formerly Boohoo, which is a significant shareholder in Revolution and was recently involved in a bitter board room takeover battle with its own shareholder Ashley.
Boohoo/Debenhams has itself been mired in a boardroom feud at the beauty retailer it currently holds a large stake in, adding and extra layer of drama to proceedings.
Retail industry sources told Sky News over the weekend that Ashley’s Frasers Group was considering whether to bid but was not certain to do so.
Revolution Beauty, which sells branded cosmetics, put itself up for sale last month as it warned investors that it was evaluating options to establish “a more robust capital structure with additional capital to invest into the company.”
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It said it had received a takeover approach from a third party – thought to be a reference to a bidder other than Frasers Group – and invited other suitors to contact its advisers at Panmure Liberum, the investment bank.
Revolution Beauty has parachuted in Iain McDonald, an experienced City figure whose directorships include a seat on the board of Debenhams Group, as chairman to oversee the sale process.
Debenhams holds a large stake in Revolution Beauty, while Frasers is a big shareholder in Debenhams and blocked the change of its legal name from Boohoo earlier this year by voting against the plan.
