The British group Frasers Group Plc has further expanded its network of holdings. On Monday, the parent company of retail chains such as Sports Direct, House of Fraser and Flannels announced that it had acquired an 18.9 percent stake in e-commerce specialist AO World Plc.
According to Frasers, it paid around 75 million British pounds (88 million euros) for the “strategic participation” in the British online supplier of household and electrical appliances. The transaction was preceded by “more than two years of productive talks” about entering into a partnership.
Both companies now want to benefit from the cooperation. In the future, the Frasers Group will draw on the knowledge of AO World in the mail-order business with electrical appliances and thus “drive growth in its household goods division”, while the new partner can use “the expertise and the network” of the retail group, explained Frasers CEO Michael Murray in a statement.
The Frasers Group is already involved in numerous other well-known companies as part of an offensive investment strategy. These include, for example, the British clothing retailer Asos, the Metzingen fashion house Hugo Boss, the leather goods specialist Mulberry and the e-commerce group N Brown Group.