(Reuters) -British sportswear and fashion group Frasers Group said it had raised its stake in Australian footwear retailer Accent Group to 19.57% and signed a 25-year deal to launch and operate Sports Direct in Australia and New Zealand.
Frasers Group, which is majority owned by billionaire Mike Ashley, is one of the world’s largest retailers of sports and fitness wear. Under its sports apparel retail brand ‘Sports Direct’, it has been expanding overseas with recent deals in the Netherlands, Africa, Gulf and Egypt.
The UK-based company is increasing its stake by 5% in Accent Group and the subscription proceeds of about 29 million pounds ($38.27 million) will be spent on the initial launch of Sports Direct, Frasers said in a statement on Tuesday.
Under the deal, Frasers will not be able to buy more than 26% of Accent for the next three years, Accent said in a separate statement.
As Accent Group’s largest shareholder, Frasers aims to expand its sports retail presence in the region and plans to open 100 stores, it said.
Frasers also said that Accent Group had bought Frasers’ discount online fashion marketplace, MySale, consolidating Frasers’ operations in Australia.
($1 = 0.7577 pounds)
(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Rashmi Aich)
