Mike Ashley moves to oust Rangers chief Graham Wallace after taking £4.3m stake October 8, 2014 Retail tycoon Mike Ashley has bought five per cent of Scottish football club Glasgow Rangers as part of a move to oust the chief executive and a director from the board. Ashley, who owns Newcastle United and has made a series of investments in recent weeks including buying shares in Tesco and Debenhams, took the [...]
What is a put option and how is Mike Ashley using it to bet on Tesco? September 25, 2014 Mike Ashley's Sports Direct has taken a punt on Tesco by entering into a put option agreement with Goldman Sachs. But what exactly is a put option and how is he using it to make money? In short, Sports Direct is selling the option to Goldman, meaning that if the share price goes up, [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct takes a punt on Tesco’s share price September 25, 2014 Mike Ashley isn't averse to taking a flutter. This time, the Newcastle United owner has taken a bet on Tesco – his company, Sports Direct, has entered into a put option agreement with Goldman Sachs on 23 million of its shares, which could leave it with a 0.28 per cent stake in the retailer, worth [...]
Sports Direct scores profit rise but Mike Ashley’s company hurt by England’s poor World Cup September 10, 2014 Sports Direct enjoyed an 11.8 per cent rise in profit for the period ending 27 July 2014 , yet the sportswear retailer was hurt by England's early World Cup exit. The company founded by Newcastle United chairman Mike Ashley reported a 12.2 per cent increase in sales from £631m to £711.2m, while gross profit also [...]
Mike Ashley retains House of Fraser stake as Nanjing Xinjiekou sale goes through September 2, 2014 The sale of department store House of Fraser to Chinese conglomerate Nanjing Xinjiekou has gone through today – with Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley retaining his 11 per cent stake. The deal values the business at around £480m – probably more than it would have valued at, had chairman Don McCarthy gone through with [...]
Mike Ashley waives Sports Direct bonus July 16, 2014 Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley will not take up his bonus despite the controversial scheme gaining approval from shareholders. The retailer announced Ashley will not take up the share-based bonus in 2015 ahead of its financial results, due out tomorrow, and would not approach shareholders about any bonus until 2019. The collective £200m bonus, approved [...]
Mike Ashley finally lands bonus after shareholder backlash July 2, 2014 Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has been awarded a bonus after 60 per cent of shareholders approved plans to let Mr Ashley share in a bonus scheme of up to £200m between the retailer's employees and management. However, 40 per cent of shareholders opposed the move, which was the company's third attempt in two years [...]
Directors join row over Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct bonus July 1, 2014 British directors yesterday slammed Sports Direct’s plans to hand founder Mike Ashley a multimillion-pound share bonus, which this morning is facing a crunch shareholder vote. The Institute of Directors’ rare attack on Sports Direct criticised “weak governance” from the company’s board over the pay plans. But the retailer last night remained confident of passing the [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct swoops on MySale stock June 18, 2014 Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct yesterday snapped up a 4.8 per cent stake in online fashion site MySale just a day after a pricing error caused shares to tank on its stock market debut. MySale plunged 27 per cent on Tuesday after the share price was listed as 2.26p instead of 226p, leading trading programmes to [...]
Sports Direct investors attack new bonus plan for Mike Ashley June 9, 2014 Sports Direct shareholders lashed out yesterday, claiming they had not been consulted on the latest proposal for a bonus share scheme that seeks to reward its founder Mike Ashley. The retailer has set out plans for a share programme that would reward Ashley alongside Sports Direct’s 3,000 employees, after shareholders rejected two earlier attempts to [...]