We’ve had a lot of stories about Frasers Group building up its stake in ASOS. But there’s been less attention focused on another key ASOS shareholder — Bestseller’s Anders Holch Povlsen.
Asos
The man whose holding company last year bought a 75% stake in ASOS’s Topshop and Topman brands is now the UK fashion e-tail giant’s biggest shareholder.
He and his family own 28% of the business’s shares, leapfrogging the stake held by the Mike Ashley-controlled Frasers Group.
The significant point here is that rules for London Stock Exchange-listed companies mean when an investor reaches a stake of 30%+, it must make a formal takeover offer.
This can be waived — such as with Frasers’ 37% stake in Mulberry where a takeover isn’t an issue because another shareholder has an even bigger stake (Challice with 56%+). Frasers did launch an unsuccessful takeover attempt but wasn’t obliged too.
However, in the case of ASOS, the rules are likely to be applied.
Whether Holch Povlsen ever had any long-term plan to take over ASOS may be irrelevant given that the Frasers stake-building process may force him to act.
As well as owning Bestseller, he already has a big stake in ASOS’s Germany-based rival Zalando and in About You, which Zalando is acquiring.
It’s possible that ASOS could be more open to an approach from him than from Frasers as it has rebuffed Ashley previously. In 2023, the Telegraph reported that he suggested closer cooperation between his company and ASOS, but ASOS opted for an approach from Holch Povlsen. The deal to sell Holch Povlsen control of Topshop was a further sign of his strong relationship with the UK firm.
The Telegraph has also approached ASOS, Bestseller and Frasers about the situation regarding the current shareholdings but none of them have commented.
