Shareholder shootout: the key players in the looming battle for control of Boohoo

After over a year of share raids on Boohoo, yesterday Frasers and Mike Ashley made their move on the stricken fast fashion retailer. With a stake worth over 25% of the business, Frasers yesterday published an open letter to Boohoo management calling on them to install Mike Ashley as its new chief executive. 

In response today, Boohoo said it had “governance concerns” over Ashley’s involvement, noting: “Mr Ashley is a 73% shareholder in Frasers; in addition, Frasers owns a 23.6% stake in Asos, and both Frasers and Asos operate in similar markets to Boohoo. These are important facts that need to be taken into account and carefully considered by the board.”

As the battle for control of Boohoo heats up, Retail Week looks at the seven major shareholders listed on the retailer’s website as of August 30, 2024, and how each might help decide the future of the business. 

Frasers Group 

Frasers Group is the empire of brands and retailers that Mike Ashley built around its hero retail brand, Sports Direct. 

The group’s name is frequently seen in headlines for a few main reasons. These include making strategic investments in brands and buying brands out of administration.  

They are also known for putting brands into administration (as in the case of Matchesfashion) and most recently their investments in retail properties across the UK. 

Frasers has been vocal in its ambitions to create an ecosystem of the “world’s best sports, premium, and luxury brands” since 2019 when it rebranded from Sports Direct International. 

It plans to achieve this through strategic investments in various brands across sectors like Asos and Currys, and an “elevation strategy” proposed by its chief executive, Michael Murray, who is the son-in-law of Mike Ashley. 

Though no longer the chief executive of the group, Ashley has a 73% stake in Frasers and is said to be involved in all its strategic decisions, but from behind the scenes. 

As Boohoo’s largest shareholder with a 26.09% stake, Frasers will have a big say in the fast fashion retailer’s future and will push for a takeover when and if the matter goes to vote. 

Mahmud Kamani 

The Kenyan-born, Manchester-raised, son of Indian parents, Kamani’s tale is quite literally one of rags-to-riches, which in many ways mirrors the story of his main rival for control of the business, Mike Ashley. 

Kamani started out selling clothes for his father from the back of a van, where he earned a “rough and tough rag trader” reputation. Seeing an opportunity to sell cheap clothes online, he founded Boohoo in 2006 with then co-chief executive Carol Kane – who herself owns just a 1.58% stake in the business, and has seemingly stepped back from any public-facing roles.

While Kamani’s legacy on the UK fashion scene has long been cemented, he has now been supplanted by Frasers as the biggest shareholder of Boohoo. Insiders at the business also say that as co-founder, major shareholder and executive chair, Kamani has become an “overbearing presence” at Boohoo. 

Nevertheless, the likelihood of him relinquishing his grip on the business he founded without a fight remains slim.

Camelot Capital Partners

Camelot Capital Partners holds a stake of 5.6% in Boohoo, according to the retailer’s website.

It is one of the most intriguing investors involved as tycoon Ashley seeks to win operational control of Boohoo.

Founded by William Barker and based in California, Camelot is an investor in Boohoo rival Asos too – which has a holding of about 15%. Barker has also been an Asos non-executive director since September last year.

Ashley controls a 23.6% stake in Asos. As observers speculate about how the future will play out between Asos and Boohoo – and even whether they might end up coming together, the fact that some of those at the heart of the action are involved in both businesses means how Camelot plays its hand could prove significant.

Schroder Investment Management

Schroder Investment Management has a 7.12% position in Boohoo, making it the biggest external shareholder after Frasers.

The investor is likely to listen to all sides as the arguments play out over Boohoo’s future, says one city source.

While the attitude of the fund manager responsible for the Boohoo stake will be crucial, Schroders – like other similar city institutions – will also consider developments from a governance perspective and the extent to which any change would align with its corporate values.

Boohoo Group Plc EBT 

As of August 30, 2024, Boohoo’s employee benefit trust (EBT) has a 4.50% shareholding in the fast fashion retailer. This is higher than Rabia Kamani and Umar Kamani who have a 4% and 3.02% stake respectively. 

These shares are held by the trustee of the group’s EBT and are intended to satisfy future awards of shares, the group has said in the past. 

Rabia Kamani

The sister of co-founder Mahmud, Rabia Kamani is the most media-shy member of Boohoo’s ruling family dynasty. 

Unlike her brother Mahmud, whose every utterance has been reported by the business media for the best part of two decades, or her nephew Umar who chronicles many of his personal and professional moments on social media, Rabia keeps a low profile. 

Beyond her connections with Boohoo, Rabia Kamani’s LinkedIn page lists her as being a London-based director of the Australian marketing company Loud. 

With a 4% stake in Boohoo, she is the second smallest of the major stakeholders, having sold nearly 1% of her stake in May 2022. 

Umar Kamani 

The son of Mahmud Kamani has been a prominent figure in fashion retail for the last decade after he co-founded PrettyLittleThing with his brother Adam in 2012.

Known for social media posts documenting his lavish lifestyle, celebrity friends and £20m wedding, Kamani made headlines last year when he stepped down from his role as chief executive at PLT to pursue “new challenges and goals”, he said.

In the following year, he bought a stake in Boohoo and teased that he would “buy TopShop and bring it back like the good old days”, and made a shock return to PLT.

Despite having the smallest stake of all major shareholders at 3.02%, reports suggest that Kamani is keen to lead the business his father founded.

Kamani is yet to make a formal approach for the role, but industry insiders have tipped him as a favourite to take the helm.