Frasers Group praises N Brown leaders, also says it seeks to engage with Mulberry owners

Frasers Group issued a statement on Friday regarding both N Brown and Mulberry, clearly showing how it likes leadership teams that are prepared to engage with it when it comes to business ownership and saying it’s seeking to engage with Mulberry’s majority owner.

As background, Frasers has a stake of around 37% in Mulberry and wants to buy the rest, but controlling shareholder Challice has resisted its advances, despite issuing new shares at a much lower price than Frasers is potentially offering.

N Brown, meanwhile, announced this week that its own controlling shareholder family is buying the rest of the shares it doesn’t already own, including Frasers’ significant roughly-20% stake.

Frasers said it’s “pleased to confirm that it has signed an irrevocable undertaking to vote in favour of the recommended cash acquisition of N Brown Group by Falcon 24 Topco Limited, a company owned and controlled by Joshua Alliance, which was announced on 17 October”.

The acquisition values N Brown at 40p per share, a price at which the company said it “would have been a willing buyer or a willing seller. As it is, Frasers is a willing seller. Frasers wishes Joshua Alliance and the N Brown management team every success for the future, and although Frasers will have divested of its shareholding in full, [it] looks forward to a strategic relationship with Joshua Alliance and the N Brown team post-acquisition. Frasers would also like to take the opportunity to thank N Brown and Joshua Alliance for the fulsome engagement ahead of the acquisition announcement”. 

That last point was clearly loaded with meaning given how Frasers has complained that MUlberry’s Challice hasn’t engaged with it.

The company said it “refers to its announcement” of 11 October regarding its revised possible cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Mulberry Group not already owned by it at 150p a share

“For the reasons set out in the announcement, Frasers believes that the revised proposal should be given due and proper consideration. Frasers notes that it is still yet to receive formal feedback from the board of Mulberry on the revised proposal”.

It also “notes the announcement” from Challice on 13 October, “specifically the remarks that Challice has no interest in either selling its Mulberry shares to Frasers or providing Frasers with any irrevocable or other undertaking with regards the possible offer. Accordingly, Frasers has sought to engage with Challice directly”.