Frasers takes control of Hugo Boss

Frasers Group has taken control of Hugo Boss by raising its stake in the German fashion company to more than 50%. The British retailer now holds 50.08% of Hugo Boss shares, giving it majority ownership and triggering a change in the company’s status to a subsidiary within the Frasers portfolio.

The latest step to secure control involved acquiring an additional 0.29% stake in Hugo Boss for €7.6 million. This incremental purchase moved Frasers across the 50% threshold and completed a strategy of gradually building its position in the German group.

To reach 50.08%, Frasers recently bought nearly 200,000 Hugo Boss shares. The company paid €38.41 per share for this block of stock, a price that also matched the Hugo Boss closing level in Xetra main trading on the same day.

Crossing the majority threshold means Frasers now expects to fully consolidate Hugo Boss in its financial reporting. The change reflects the shift from a large minority holding to a controlling interest once more than half of the shares are owned.

Frasers had announced on 1 September that it aimed to push its Hugo Boss stake above 50% through additional share purchases after a takeover offer narrowly missed its objective. The transactions achieve that target and bring the earlier attempt to gain control to a close.

With the 50.08% stake, Frasers moves from being a major shareholder to the majority owner of Hugo Boss. The company has stated that the majority holding allows it to treat Hugo Boss as a subsidiary and fully consolidate the fashion group’s results.

Frasers Group is majority‑owned by British businessman Mike Ashley and is best known for the Sports Direct retail chain. In addition to its core UK sports retail activities, the group holds various investments in other listed retailers, with Hugo Boss now one of its most significant holdings.

The move to majority ownership of Hugo Boss fits within Frasers’ pattern of building stakes in European retail companies. With control now secured, Hugo Boss becomes a central part of Frasers’ expanding portfolio of fashion and retail brands.