Frasers to launch fresh bid for XXL

(Sharecast News) - Mike Ashley's Frasers Group is to make a mandatory offer for Norway's XXL, the retailer confirmed on Tuesday, just weeks after abandoning its pursuit of the sporting goods specialist. An XXL shareholder, late last year Frasers tabled an offer worth 10 Norwegian kroner per share - or NOK 246.36m (£18.01m) in total - to take full control of the business.

It dropped the approach when other large shareholders made it known they would not back the bid.

But on Tuesday, Frasers - the owner of Sports Direct and Jack Wills, among others - confirmed it had taken part in a rights issue XXL launched in January, increasing its stake to 32.9% and so triggering a mandatory offer.

Under Norwegian trading rules, if an investor owns more than a third of the allocated shares, they are obligated to make a bid for the remaining stock.

In brief statements to the London and Oslo Stock Exchanges, Frasers said it would own a total of 32.9% of all shares, and around 40.8% of the voting A shares, upon registration of the new share capital and delivery of the allocated shares.

It therefore would be making a mandatory offer, having crossed the one-third threshold.

It did not provide any further details, other than to confirm a further announcement would be made "in due course".

As at noon GMT, shares in Frasers were up 2% at 646p, while XXL had surged 16% to over NOK 13.