Sports Direct ups pressure on Debenhams by naming takeover price

Sports Direct has put a price on the head of Debenhams – the struggling retailer it is considering buying.

Earlier this week, the Shirebrook-based firm said it was mulling a cash bid for Debenhams, which is trying to raise £150m in funding.

Sports Direct says it would pay 5p for the remaining shares (around 70%) in Debenhams, valuing the department store chain at £61.4m.

The compamy has reiterated that any deal is conditional on Mike Ashley taking over at chief executive of Debenhams and stepping down as Sports Direct boss

A statement from Sports Direct this morning (27 March) said: “Sports Direct believes that the Possible Offer would offer fair and full value for Debenhams. It does not believe that Debenhams has the same value if it is (in effect) handed over to Debenhams’ existing lender group. As such, Sports Direct would expect the Possible Offer to be attractive to Debenhams shareholders and other stakeholders as an alternative to Debenhams’ current restructuring and refinancing process.”

Debenhams has so far rebuffed a series of aggressive advances from Sports Direct.