Frasers angry again, claims it's now locked out of Jaeger auction

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 9, 2020

Frasers Group boss Mike Ashley is reportedly angry at being locked out of another brand auction. This follows earlier news that he was unhappy about what he perceived as an unfair lack of information provided when he was interested in buying Debenhams.

Frasers' latest brand-buying effort comes as the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group has been seeking buyers for its operations, including Jaeger, Peacocks and the Edinburgh Woollen Mill brand itself.

They’re part of the retail empire controlled by billionaire entrepreneur Philip Day and the sale is being handled by insolvency consultants at FRP Advisory.

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But Frasers has claimed that FRP has been “unhelpful throughout the process, either refusing to provide or providing very slowly the normal information a buyer would expect”, an insider hold the Telegraph.

The company is reportedly also unhappy that “key items were withheld”, the newspaper said. “There has been no real attempt to engage with us as a committed and willing purchaser - but not the one they want to sell to,” it quoted the insider saying.

The Edinburgh Woollen Mill chain fell into administration on Friday after the administrators said a buyer couldn't be found, although buyers for the Jaeger and Peacocks brands are still being sought. 

Meanwhile a source close to Philip Day told the Telegraph that Frasers wasn't prepared to match the price tag that it believes some of the brands should fetch.

A spokesman for Day said: “All the bidders for Peacocks and Jaeger have had access to the same information and ample opportunity to make an offer since we want to secure the best possible future for both these businesses.”