Will JD Sports rescue Debenhams?
JD Sports has emerged as a “serious contender” to rescue Debenhams, a move that would escalate its rivalry with Mike Ashley, owner of Sports Direct and House of Fraser.
JD Sports has emerged as a “serious contender” to rescue Debenhams, reports Oliver Gill in the Daily Telegraph. The move would “significantly escalate” its “long-running” rivalry with Mike Ashley, who controls Sports Direct and the department store House of Fraser. Ashley, whose previous £125m bid for Debenhams was rejected, has so far failed to find partners who can help him improve his offer. The interest from JD Sports will raise “fresh hopes” among Debenhams’ 12,000 staff, who have suffered “years of uncertainty”.
Not so fast, says Jim Armitage in the Evening Standard. While it is “anyone’s guess” who ends up with Debenhams, it is certain that “nobody will want all 124 stores”. It may be that nobody “will want any Debenhams-branded stores at all”, since it is hard to see how a “second-rate department store chain” will survive post-Covid-19 “when even your granny shops online”. One suspects that JD Sports’s interest is “being talked up to squeeze more cash out of Ashley”.
Still, even if it doesn’t end up buying Debenhams, it will at least be able to hold onto Footasylum, says Ashley Armstrong in The Times. In a “rare” defeat for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Competition Appeals Tribunal agreed with JD Sports that its £90m takeover of the rival footwear retailer didn’t represent a “substantial lessening of competition” as it “faced increasing competition” from Nike and Adidas’ websites. As a result, the deal will have to be referred back to the CMA and the planned divestment of Footasylum’s stores can be postponed for now.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.
He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.
Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.
As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri
-
Rightmove: Asking prices edge closer to record peak
Asking prices have been driven up by the top-end of the market, Rightmove has found. But how does the situation look in your area?
By Vaishali Varu Published
-
Coventry Building Society bids £780m for Co-operative Bank - what could it mean for customers?
Coventry Building Society has put in an offer of £780 million to buy Co-operative Bank. When will the potential deal happen and what could it mean for customers?
By Vaishali Varu Published
-
The industry at the heart of global technology
The semiconductor industry powers key trends such as artificial intelligence, says Rupert Hargreaves
By Rupert Hargreaves Published
-
Three emerging Asian markets to invest in
Professional investor Chetan Sehgal of Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust tells us where he’d put his money
By Chetan Sehgal Published
-
What to consider before investing in small-cap indexes
Small-cap index trackers show why your choice of benchmark can make a large difference to long-term returns
By Cris Sholto Heaton Published
-
Why space investments are the way to go for investors
Space investments will change our world beyond recognition, UK investors should take note
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
-
Time to tap into Africa’s mobile money boom
Favourable demographics have put Africa on the path to growth when it comes to mobile money and digital banking
By Rupert Hargreaves Published
-
M&S is back in fashion: but how long can this success last?
M&S has exceeded expectations in the past few years, but can it keep up the momentum?
By Rupert Hargreaves Published
-
The end of China’s boom
Like the US, China too got fat on fake money. Now, China's doom is not far away.
By Bill Bonner Published
-
Magic mushrooms — an investment boom or doom?
Investing in these promising medical developments might see you embark on the trip of a lifetime.
By Bruce Packard Published