Australian fashion and footwear business Accent Group has responded to the most recent rebuff from Frasers Group amid the UK retail group’s takeover bid of the local conglomerate.
Accent’s one-page response was curt, listing three key points against Frasers’ newest 12-page supplementary statement that followed an ongoing stoush between the two entities that started in mid-June this year when Frasers launched a shareholder takeover bid of Accent Group, with an offer price of $0.65 per share.
Accent Group – the clothing and footwear entity behind the likes of Platypus, Hoka, The Athlete’s Foot and, more recently, Sports Direct – quickly rejected the offer via an independent board committee (IBC) and told its shareholders to do the same.
Early last month, Frasers reached out to the Takeovers Panel for help, as it took umbrage with some of the reasoning behind Accent’s rejections. Following a review, Accent issued a new statement to shareholders, correcting some of the key claims it made in its initial statement. The Takeovers Panel then declined to proceed with a formal review, essentially accepting Accent’s corrections.
Following that rejection, Frasers Group launched a new supplementary statement, claiming that it took an application by them to the Takeovers Panel for Accent to make corrections that it should have disclosed in the first place.
“We regard that as a plain failing – and not a minor, technical or legal one.”
In its curt response, Accent pointed out that Frasers has not increased its offer price, which still remains below Accent’s share price of $0.72 (August 11, 10:00am).
Accent also noted that its shareholders have not budged since Frasers’ officially launched the offer on June 30, and that the Takeovers Panel were satisfied with Accent’s actions.
“Frasers is now seeking to reopen those same matters,” Accent shared in a statement.
In the same statement, Accent told shareholders the IBC’s recommendation remains unchanged, and that shareholders should reject Frasers’ offer by taking no action.
All this comes more than a year after Frasers signed a deal with Accent, allowing the company to roll out its Sports Direct business across Australia. Recent reports suggest that Frasers is not happy with the rollout timeline, and appears concerned over how Accent is being run.