Sports Direct considering cash bid for Debenhams

Sports Direct is considering a cash bid for Debenhams in its latest attempt to prevent a financial rescue plan that could wipe out its stake in the ailing department store.

Mike Ashley’s retail group said it was contemplating making the offer “alongside other options”. It said the offer, for which it gave no indication of value, was likely to be in cash but it reserved the right to vary the form and mix.

In a statement issued to the stock market after the London exchange closed on Monday, Sports Direct said such a bid would be “compelling for Debenhams shareholders” as it would allow those who wished to cash in their investments to do so.

Sports Direct, which owns nearly 30% of Debenhams, said it would seek to run the department store chain “for the benefit of all of Debenhams’ stakeholders rather than for the benefit of Debenhams’ existing lenders”.

The potential bid comes after Debenhams confirmed plans to raise up to £200m in new money in a rescue package that could wipe out shareholders including Sports Direct.

The company and its lenders are planning either a debt-for-equity swap with existing lenders or a pre-pack administration as it battles for survival.

Debenhams, which has 165 stores and employs 25,000 people, is facing cashflow problems as suppliers demand upfront payments amid uncertainty over its future, and has £520m of long-term debt, which must be refinanced by next year.

Sports Direct’s potential cash bid is Ashley’s latest gambit to wrest control of Debenhams and prevent Sports Direct’s stake from being wiped out.

The group previously offered a loan of £150m and to buy Debenhams’ Danish chain, Magasin du Nord, for at least £100m. Ashley has also called a shareholder meeting at which he wants to oust all but one of Debenhams’ directors and install himself as chief executive.

Debenhams would be relatively cheap to buy. As fears about a potential collapse have grown, Debenhams’ shares have dropped to 1.55p each, valuing the company at £19m, considerably less than the value of assets including Magasin du Nord.

But Ashley’s efforts to seize Debenhams are complicated by the terms of some of its loans and bonds, which would enable lenders to push the company into administration if there were a change of control.

Owning all the shares would still not give him control of that debt, and it is understood that Sports Direct has looked at paying back the bondholders directly.

“Mike Ashley is aware his 29.9% shareholding has virtually no value and that is unlikely to change,” said John Colley, professor of practice at Warwick Business School.

“What he wants is control. That is why he is now considering a fresh bid for the remaining shares.”

But he said: “The current lenders might prefer not to see Mike Ashley looking after their interests, especially as he already has his hands full with House of Fraser.”