Sports Direct is considering making a £61.4m takeover offer for Debenhams as it tries to prevent lenders taking control of the distressed department stores chain.
In what many believe is a last throw of the dice, Sports Direct said that it would offer 5p a share in cash for Debenhams, but only if Mike Ashley, 54, was installed as chief executive and if the chain abandoned its refinancing discussions with its lenders.
The sportswear retailer said that a takeover could be a better alternative than simply “handing over” Debenhams to its lenders in an insolvency that would wipe out Sports Direct’s near-30% stake in the chain.
The Telegraph also reports on a day of ‘own goals’ across Ashley’s empire which included a reported snub of the Debenhams takeover offer and calls for shareholders to vote against a separate takeover bid for home shopping specialist Findel.
The Times has a second story which covers Sports Direct claim of a secret plan for Debenhams’ £560m debt pile.
Click here for the full Times article (£)
Click here for the full Independent article
Click here for the full FT article (£)
