Mike Ashley\u2019s Frasers Group<\/a> has filed a possible \u00a383m offer to buy the luxury brand Mulberry as it expressed concerns about the future of the British handbag maker.<\/p>\n Frasers \u2013 the owner of Sports Direct, Evans Cycles, the House of Fraser department stores, the luxury streetwear chain Flannels and multiple brands from Slazenger to Jack Wills \u2013 already owns a 37% stake in Mulberry<\/a>.<\/p>\n It said it was making an offer for the rest of the company after the luxury brand announced an emergency \u00a310.75m placing of shares to prop up the balance sheet late on Friday.<\/p>\n Mulberry had said it needed to raise cash after it fell to a \u00a334m pre-tax loss in the year to the end of March, from a \u00a313m profit a year before, after sales fell by 4% to \u00a3153m. It added that sales were down by 18% for the 25 weeks since the period ended.<\/p>\n In a statement issued on Monday, Frasers said it would \u201cnot accept another Debenhams situation where a perfectly viable business is run into administration\u201d. The statement refers to the collapse of the department store<\/a> in 2019, wiping out shareholders such as Ashley\u2019s retail group, which had ploughed \u00a3150m into the business, including building up a near-30% stake.<\/p>\n The statement said the group \u201cwas not aware of the [planned cash raising by Mulberry] until immediately prior to its announcement\u201d and would have been willing to underwrite it on better terms than those announced.<\/p>\n Mulberry\u2019s share price, which stood at 125p on Friday before the announcement, recovered to 120p from 100p on Monday.<\/p>\n Ashley\u2019s offer is 130p a share and is subject to a string of conditions \u2013 all of which it says are \u201cwaivable\u201d, including the ditching of the planned share placement and full backing of the Mulberry board.<\/p>\n Clive Black, an analyst at Shore Capital, suggested there could be \u201cmuch emotion and potential shenanigans\u201d as Frasers would be up against the majority shareholder Challice, controlled by the Singaporean entrepreneur Christina Ong.<\/p>\n \u201cQuite whether the two large and dominating shareholders can come to an agreement will be at the heart of the next steps, we shall watch with interest,\u201d Black wrote in a note.<\/p>\n