Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has acquired the department store chain Harvey Nichols through a pre-pack administration covering about 1,000 jobs, the retailer’s six UK stores and its online and international franchise operations, according to administrators FTI Consulting.

FTI said the deal “safeguards a 200-year-old institution”.

Frasers, the FTSE 100 retailer, said it would begin a “significant restructuring” of Harvey Nichols to “right-size the business” and return it to profit. It said it would integrate the chain into the group and review and “rationalise” the store portfolio, organisational structure, operating model and cost base.

Michael Murray, chief executive of Frasers and Ashley’s son-in-law, said: “The turnaround will require tough choices, and we are prepared to make those decisions, even if that means a smaller business in the near term, to create a stronger and more sustainable Harvey Nichols for the long term.”

The deal follows a sales process in which Frasers beat Next, the London-listed retailer, to take control of the business.

Harvey Nichols had warned in its latest accounts that it would need to “cease trading” within a year if it failed to secure new investment. Ashley has said the chain was in a “death spiral”.

Harvey Nichols has not made a profit since the pandemic. It has been squeezed by online competition, high costs, under-performing regional stores and weaker spending from international tourists. Rivals including Harrods and Selfridges have invested heavily in their shops and online businesses.

The six UK stores are in Knightsbridge in west London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Edinburgh. Harvey Nichols has 13 shops globally, including seven locations in the UK and Ireland. Frasers said it had acquired some assets at the Dublin store, including stock and store fixtures, and that talks over that business continue.

The Oxo Tower restaurant on London’s South Bank, which Harvey Nichols has operated since 1996, has been sold separately to the team behind Fallow. FTI said this would preserve more than 100 jobs and the operations of the business.

Lindsay Hallam, senior managing director at FTI Consulting, said: “From the outset, our focus was to find a solution that protected the underlying value of the business, securing a future for a 200-year-old retailer, and delivering the best possible outcome for stakeholders.”

The acquisition deepens Frasers’ push into upmarket retailing, and the group said it hoped to expand its relationships with luxury brands including Gucci, Moncler, Burberry, Prada and Dior. Murray has previously warned of a softening global luxury market as sales in the group’s premium division fell.

Louise Déglise-Favre, lead apparel analyst at GlobalData, said Frasers had “spent several years constructing a luxury proposition that it has been unable to fully realise”.

She added: “While Flannels provided scale, and the group’s shareholdings in Mulberry and Burberry provided proximity to brands, the houses that define genuine luxury have remained reluctant to trade within a Frasers fascia.”

Déglise-Favre said the outcome of the deal was likely to be a “more concentrated luxury proposition centred on Knightsbridge, with weaker stores absorbed under the other fascias within the group, such as House of Frasers or Flannels”.

The position of Harvey Nichols creditors, including suppliers, landlords and HM Revenue & Customs, is unclear.

Lisa Webb, senior lawyer at Which?, said: “Fraser’s Group must ensure that existing obligations to Harvey Nichols’ customers are honoured if it wants to maintain goodwill in the brand. That means accepting gift vouchers, fulfilling online shopping orders and processing returns and refunds as if nothing has changed. No consumer should be left out of pocket as a result of this sale.”

A pre-pack involves lining up a buyer ready to acquire a business straight after it enters administration. Supporters say the structure is an efficient way to rescue struggling businesses, save jobs and maximise returns to creditors, while critics say it can leave creditors with unpaid debts. Sales to connected parties are subject to mandatory independent scrutiny under 2021 regulations, a regime insolvency professionals warned at the time could remain open to abuse.

Frasers has acquired a number of distressed brands through pre-packs. The company was renamed from Sports Direct in 2019 after Ashley bought House of Fraser. Ashley stepped down as chief executive in 2022 but remains majority shareholder.

Shares in Frasers closed up 13p, or 1.6 per cent, at 817½p on the London Stock Exchange following the deal, valuing the company at £3.6 billion.

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Amidst global trade tensions, ASEAN aims to become the world’s fourth-largest economy by offering a dynamic, safe, and neutral business hub. The bloc is prioritizing rapid and quality transformation through enhanced integration, resilience, and addressing education and inclusion challenges.

Key Points

• During a period of geoeconomic and trading tensions, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is seeking to capitalize on its advantages and address its challenges.
• The bloc’s aim is to offer investors and partners a dynamic, safe, neutral space in which to do business and trade.
• Both the speed and quality of the bloc’s transition are being considered, with emphasis laid on greater integration, enhancing resilience and tackling issues like education and inclusion.

Recognizing the need for regional connectivity and diversification, ASEAN leverages its neutrality and peace to attract investors in a changing geopolitical landscape. It’s also investing in digital infrastructure, focusing on interoperability for trade, health, and e-commerce, while acknowledging the need to upskill its young population. Addressing climate change and fostering innovation are key to its future growth.

The current period of profound geopolitical transformation presents enormous opportunities and risks for countries worldwide, but perhaps none more so than the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The 11-nation bloc is seeking to become the world’s fourth-largest economy and offers a neutral, loosely harmonized, open, dynamic, increasingly entrepreneurial partner, and, according to Tulsi Naidu, Chief Executive Officer, Asia-Pacific, Zurich Insurance Group, “a compelling growth opportunity”.

Described as the most “trade-driven region,” it has shown remarkable resilience in a hostile trading environment where its members have faced US tariffs ranging from 10% to 48% in recent months.

Finding strength through collaboration

As Masato Kanda, President of the ADB, suggested, further “regional connectivity and diversification of industry and trade are the best protection against external shocks,” and with leaders cognisant of this, ASEAN is working hard to transform faster.

Like many trading blocs, ASEAN is currently questioning how best to address geopolitical and economic events. According to Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Ekniti Nitithanprapas, it’s vital ASEAN members continue to work together. As regional blocs replace multilateral set-ups and institutions, investors will naturally be looking for safety; it’s envisaged they that ASEAN’s long-standing neutrality and relative levels of peace will prove attractive. Additionally, ASEAN has a chance to reap dividends by positioning itself as a “springboard to grow to other regions”.

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A Frontier Airlines flight reportedly declared a medical emergency Thursday after four flight attendants became sick with headaches and nausea shortly before landing in Florida.

Frontier Flight 1046 was traveling from Cleveland to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when the pilots requested that emergency medical personnel meet the Airbus A321 at the gate, according to air traffic control communications reported by PYOK.

The aircraft landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport without incident, where emergency responders were waiting, according to the outlet.

As the aircraft approached South Florida, one of the pilots alerted air traffic controllers to a “developing medical” situation on board.

BUDGET AIRLINE JETSTAR TO CHARGE PASSENGERS FOR STORING BAGS IN OVERHEAD COMPARTMENTS

“If you could call the tower and have them meet at our gate for a developing medical,” the pilot said in the radio call.

When asked about the nature of the medical emergency, the pilot said multiple flight attendants were experiencing symptoms.

“All my flight attendants have headaches, and now three, now four, are nauseous,” the pilot said.

RYANAIR PASSENGER RECOUNTS BEING PARTLY SUCKED OUT AIRPLANE WINDOW: ‘I AM LUCKY’

The aircraft, a 10-year-old Airbus A321, departed Cleveland shortly before 8 a.m. on Thursday. It was scheduled to return to Cleveland at 11:30 a.m., but that flight was canceled, according to PYOK.

The cause of the flight attendants’ illnesses was not immediately known, and their conditions after landing were unclear.

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FOX Business has reached out to Frontier Airlines for comment.

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) rallied as much as 8% to a day’s high of Rs 105 on the BSE on Friday after the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) granted interim relief to the company in its case against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

SAT stayed the SEBI order against Zee Entertainment and permitted the company to go ahead with its proposed Rs 3,143 crore preferential warrant issue to promoters. The tribunal also allowed ZEE to use its mutual fund units for dividend distribution. The relief is subject to the company depositing the penalty imposed by SEBI.

The tribunal had on Wednesday reserved its order on interim relief pleas filed by Zee Entertainment and CEO Punit Goenka against SEBI’s July 31 order, which barred them from accessing the securities market.

The SEBI action stems from title documents related to a Hyderabad property owned by ZEEL. The regulator alleged that the title deeds were provided to Indiabulls Housing Finance as security for loans taken by private entities linked to the promoters without the necessary corporate approvals.

ZEEL has disputed the allegations, saying the documents were taken without authorisation and that there was no direct finding establishing that the company was aware of the arrangement. The company has also argued that it did not itself engage in fraudulent activity in the securities market.

ZEEL had approached SAT seeking permission to complete the proposed Rs 3,143 crore preferential warrant issue, citing a limited window available for the fundraise. The company told the tribunal that shareholders had already approved the issue and that it had received in-principle approval from the stock exchanges. The warrants are proposed to be issued to Sunbright Mauritius Investments, a promoter-group entity.
During the hearing, SAT questioned SEBI’s reasoning for preventing ZEEL from completing the fundraise during the two-month market-access ban, noting that the company could undertake the transaction after the restriction ended.SEBI argued that allowing the preferential issue while the market-access restriction was in force would dilute the impact of the ban imposed following regulatory violations.

The regulator also opposed Punit Goenka’s participation in the issue, arguing that he is the ultimate beneficial owner of Sunbright Mauritius Investments and is himself subject to a one-year securities-market ban. SEBI said allowing the allotment through the Mauritius-based entity could effectively give Goenka indirect access to the securities market.

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