Frasers Group lifts Burberry stake to 4.2%, shares spark

(Sharecast News) - Burberry shares sparked again on Wednesday after Mike Ashley's Frasers Group lifted its stake in the luxury fashion brand to 4.2%. In a filing late on Tuesday, Frasers disclosed that it had increased its stake from 3.05% through the sale of put options.

At 0820 BST, Burberry shares were up 3.6% at 1,181.50p, having rallied into the close on Tuesday.

Frasers, which owns brands such as Sports Direct, Jack Wills and House of Frasers, also has stakes in Boohoo, Asos, AO World, Currys, N Brown and Mulberry.

On Tuesday, the company's €2bn takeover tilt for Hugo Boss was given the green light by Brussels, making the offer unconditional.

Frasers offered €38 per Hugo Boss share in June, valuing the German company at around €2bn. A premium of just 4.3% to the share price when it was announced, Hugo Boss has since urged its shareholders to reject the approach as "financially inadequate".

Frasers, however, has continued to build up its holding, and last week acquired 2.55m more shares, taking the stake up to 30.8%.