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’Face-off as analyst slashes UK’s Sports Direct
The fraught relationship between the City of London and Mike Ashley, of UK sporting equipment retailer Sports Direct, threatens to deteriorate even further after a leading analyst slashed his valuation of the business by £330m on Thursday,
UK’s Sports Direct faces pay revolt
Sports Direct, the discount retailer controlled by Mike Ashley, is heading for another stormy public outing after shareholders were encouraged on Wednesday to oppose the directors’ pay award at next month’s annual meeting.
UK’s Sports Direct doubles Amer stake
Sports Direct, the sporting goods retailer, has taken the market by surprise again, with investors learning it had more than doubled its stake in a Finnish sportswear group. The retailer scrambled to issue a statement on Wednesday,
Ashley to City – you’re a “bunch of cry babies”
In honour of Mike Ashley’s latest charm offensive in the City of London, we’re extending the deadline on last week’s caption competition for those of you inspired by the Sports Direct founder’s words of comfort in the wake of his company’s tanking share price.
UK’s Sports Direct buys Adidas stake
Sports Direct, the sporting goods retailer, has declared an almost £50m stake in Adidas, the German sportswear brand, only two days after a profit warning slashed the retailer’s stock market value by almost a quarter.
Caption competition: Sports Direct
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Sports Direct’s ‘comedy show’
Shares in Sports Direct, the sporting goods retailer, on Tuesday tumbled about 25 per cent to a new low of 147p, less than half their value when the company floated just five months ago, after the first full-year results since its February float and a second profit warning.
UK activist investor focuses on Blacks
Brian Myerson, the activist investor who last month threatened to oust directors at Photo-Me International, is turning his attention to Blacks Leisure, which is facing similar threats from controversial sports wear entrepreneur Mike Ashley.
Ashley ups the ante for Everlast
Everlast Worldwide, the American boxing equipment maker, has recommended the latest offer from British sports retail entrepreneur Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct. The terms, pitched at $33 per share, are aimed at trumping a rival purchase attempt by Hidary Investments.
Not so fast, Ashley
And everyone thought he had it in the bag. But no.
Hidary, the New York-based group everyone thought had been blown out the water with Sports Direct’s $31 a share offer for boxing brand Everlast, is back with a cash bid of $31.50 a share.
Sports Direct advisers are onto something good
It has always been something of a puzzle why the likes of Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Citigroup were prepared to take the reputational risk of working with the unpredictable entrepreneur Mike Ashley.
Mike Ashley turns his pedals towards Evans
Mike Ashley, the unconventional entrepreneur behind Sports Direct International, is looking to acquire Evans Cycles for about £35m. If the bid is successful, the cycling chain would join a selection of other popular brands,
Sports Direct buys into Amer
Sports Direct International, the retail group controlled by unpredictable entrepreneur Mike Ashley, has acquired a stake in Amer Sports, the Helsinki-listed owner of the Wilson and Salomon brands. The 4.9 per cent stake cost Sports Direct €58.4m (£40m) financed via an existing credit facility.
Ashley to buy Newcastle chair’s stake
Mike Ashley, the sports wear billionaire, was on Wednesday night poised to take control of Newcastle United after winning over Freddy Shepherd, the football club’s chairman. The £133.1m takeover appeared to be going ahead after Mr Shepherd agreed to accept the 100p-a-share offer for his 28 per cent stake.
Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley does it again
Mike Ashley, the intensely private yet increasingly active sportswear billionaire and founder of Sports Direct International, has sold his holding in Adidas, making tens of millions of euros from a rally that he sparked with his stake-building in March.
Sports Direct chairman in shock exit
Sports Direct International’s brief but volatile life as a public company took another turn for the worse on Thursday with the resignation of the sports retailer’s chairman. The shock departure of David Richardson after just three months pushed the shares 10p lower to 205p.
Magpies Direct? Ashley bids £133m for club
Mike Ashley, head of Sports Direct International, on Wednesday announced a £133.1m cash offer for Newcastle United, nicknamed the Magpies, after agreeing to buy out Sir John Hall, the club’s largest shareholder.
Ashley splashes some cash on Newcastle
When Mike Ashley was asked what he would do with the cash raised from floating Sports Direct International in February, he said he hadn’t a clue. Now it turns out he wants to buy Newcastle United.
Mr Ashley got the better of the City when he sold a chunk of SDI – owner of the Sports World chain – to institutional investors for nearly £1bn just before the markets took a bath.
Sports Direct suffers further setbacks
Sports Direct, the sports retailer that made a controversial debut on the stock market earlier this year, suffered another blow to its credibility on Thursday after warning that sales growth had slowed.
Ashley to tackle Umbro over England footie shirts
Mike Ashley, the founder of Sports Direct, has created a potential dispute with Umbro after telling City analysts that he will not be forced to meet demanding stock quotas with the kit supplier, despite a prospectus pledge to do so,
Investors want Sports Direct to play ball
Investors and analysts in the City are putting pressure on Sports Direct, the retailer that floated last month, to reform the unconventional way it deals with the City. In a tumultuous month since the £2bn flotation,
Markets live transcript 27 Mar 2007
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 11:52 on 27 Mar 2007. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy (PM) Neil Hume (NH)
PM: Welcome to Markets Live, Alphaville’s daily discussion of what’s moving and why.
Ashley raises £929m in Sports Direct float
The eagerly expected flotation of Sports Direct was priced near the top of the indicated range, raising £929m on Tuesday for Mike Ashley, founder, before the shares tumbled. Bad luck meant shares in the UK’s biggest sports retailer started trading on the stock market’s worst day for almost nine months.
Sports Direct prices IPO
Sports Direct has priced its IPO at 300p a share, giving the company a market capitalisation on launch of £2.16bn.
The offering was more than 2.7 times subscribed, and the share were priced towards the top of the indicated range of 250p to 310p.
Sports Direct puts price on shares
Sports Direct, the country’s biggest sports retailer, is expected to price its shares at the upper end of their indicative range in a flotation that could net founder Mike Ashley £892m. Bankers were last night finalising Sports Direct’s issue price but sources close to the process said the company’s IPO should launch at the higher end of the 250p to 310p-a-share range.
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct confirms plans for £2.2bn London IPO
Sports Direct International, the UK sports retailer owned by secretive billionaire Mike Ashley, confirmed plans to raise up to £2.2bn through an initial public offering and said it expected to make its debut on the London Stock Exchange by the end of this month.
Ashley reportedly hires Citigroup for Sports World float
Mike Ashley has committed to an IPO of his Sports World business and appointed Citigroup alongside Merrill Lynch to handle a listing, according to a story in the Sunday Express, picked up by Reuters. Reports in December said that Ashley had hired Merrill Lynch to advise him on strategic options for the business,
Ashley buys Streetwise Sports chain
Secretive retail billionaire Mike Ashley has made the latest addition to his sports empire with the purchase of the Streetwise Sports chain, the Telegraph reports. Ashley, who has appointed Merrill Lynch to look at the possibility of floating his Sports World empire for up to £2.5bn,