Mike Ashley’s retail empire has added another high-profile investment to its portfolio after Frasers Group quietly built a near 6 per cent stake in the German sportswear brand Puma.
Regulatory filings on the German stock exchange revealed that the owner of Sports Direct, Flannels and House of Fraser now controls a 5.77 per cent holding in Puma. The disclosure triggered an immediate reaction in the market, sending Puma’s shares up almost 10 per cent as investors interpreted the move as a potential vote of confidence in the struggling brand.
The investment makes Frasers Group the second-largest shareholder in Puma, just weeks after the Chinese sportswear giant Anta Sports agreed to acquire a 29.1 per cent stake in the business for €1.5 billion from the French billionaire Pinault family.
Frasers’ position has reportedly been assembled through a series of put option agreements linked to Puma shares, a financial strategy that allows the group to build exposure to the company without immediately purchasing large blocks of stock in the open market.
The move highlights Frasers’ increasingly active role as a strategic investor in global fashion and retail brands. Founded by Mike Ashley in 1982, the group has built a reputation for taking minority stakes in companies and using its influence to push for operational or strategic changes.
Although Ashley stepped down from day-to-day leadership in 2022, the business is now run by his son-in-law, Michael Murray, who has continued the strategy of investing in key partners and competitors across the retail sector.
Puma is already a major supplier of trainers and sportswear to Sports Direct, Frasers’ flagship retail chain. Strengthening its shareholding could give the British retailer additional influence in the brand’s future strategy and product development.
The investment comes at a turbulent moment for Puma, which has struggled to keep pace with rivals such as Nike and Adidas.
The company issued several profit warnings last year and has been undergoing a restructuring programme aimed at restoring profitability and rebuilding its brand position in the global sportswear market.
Earlier this year, Puma reported a record annual loss of €645.5 million and declining sales, forcing the company to scrap its dividend and announce plans to cut around 900 jobs as part of its turnaround effort.
The restructuring is being led by the company’s new chief executive, Arthur Hoeld, who has signalled that the brand needs to fundamentally rethink its product strategy and global positioning.
Hoeld has acknowledged that demand for Puma footwear has weakened significantly in recent years and said the company must take a “hard look at ourselves” as it attempts to recover market share.
Like many consumer brands, Puma has also been hit by broader macroeconomic pressures. Slowing consumer demand in the United States, geopolitical uncertainty and trade tensions have all contributed to a challenging environment for global retail companies.
Tariffs introduced during the presidency of Donald Trump have added additional costs to international supply chains, while weakening consumer confidence has weighed on discretionary spending.
Despite these pressures, Puma’s share price has begun to recover after falling to a near ten-year low of around €15 late last year. The stock recently closed at €22.62, helped by renewed investor interest following the Anta investment and Frasers’ latest move.
Frasers’ stake in Puma is the latest example of the group’s aggressive investment strategy across the retail and fashion sector.
In recent years the company has accumulated significant stakes in several major brands and retailers, including Hugo Boss, where it holds roughly a 25 per cent stake, Asos, Boohoo Group and Mulberry.
The group has frequently used these stakes to exert pressure on management teams and influence strategic decisions.
A long-running dispute with Boohoo, for example, saw Frasers attempt to install Mike Ashley as chief executive and block the company’s efforts to rebrand its holding entity as Debenhams.
Similarly, Frasers has recently increased its position in Asos and voted against all board resolutions at the online retailer’s annual general meeting, signalling dissatisfaction with its performance and strategy.
The new investment by Frasers comes shortly after Anta Sports’ landmark purchase of a 29.1 per cent stake in Puma from the Pinault family, which had been the sportswear company’s largest shareholder for many years.
Anta said the deal was part of its broader strategy to expand its portfolio of international brands and strengthen its position in the global sportswear market.
The company described the acquisition as a “major step forward in our single-focus, multi-brand globalisation strategy”, although it said it had no immediate plans to launch a full takeover bid for Puma.
Founded in 1991, Anta has grown rapidly into one of the world’s largest sportswear groups and already owns several global brands, including outdoor apparel company Jack Wolfskin.
With Anta and Frasers now holding significant stakes, analysts expect the ownership structure of Puma to come under increasing scrutiny.
The presence of two powerful strategic shareholders could reshape the company’s direction, particularly if they push for changes to product development, distribution strategies or management structures.
For Frasers, the investment reinforces its broader strategy of building influence across the global retail ecosystem, strengthening relationships with key brands while positioning itself to benefit from any recovery in the sportswear market.
Whether the stake leads to deeper collaboration with Puma or more active shareholder involvement remains to be seen, but the move signals that Mike Ashley’s retail empire is continuing to expand its influence well beyond Britain’s high street.
