Mike Ashley calls for Mulberry board seat after takeover bid rejected

Mike Ashley demanded his company be given a seat on the Mulberry board even as he admitted defeat in his attempt to buy the company.

A day after a second takeover proposal worth £111m was rejected, his Frasers Group said it ‘does not intend’ to make a firm offer for the troubled handbag maker.

It marked a victory for the Singapore-based billionaire Ong family who were opposed to a deal. The family’s Challice group owns a 56pc stake in Mulberry and Frasers has 37pc.

Demand: Frasers says it is ‘increasingly concerned over the governance of Mulberry’

Frasers said it was ‘a disappointing outcome’ and added that it remains ‘a long-term supporter of the well-loved British brand’. 

But Frasers attacked ‘the absence of proper engagement’ regarding its two offers and repeated its request for a seat on the Mulberry board.

‘Frasers has become increasingly concerned over the governance of Mulberry, the apparent lack of a commercial plan against a backdrop of increasing market headwinds and, critically, the financial position in which Mulberry currently finds itself,’ it said.