House of Ashley

Being a rather self-deprecating chap (I'm half English, after all) I tend to avoid shameless self promotion. But on this occasion, I can't resist.

Last Monday, I congratulated Ben Marlow, the M&A reporter over at The Sunday Times, on Betaville for getting the scoop about the £450m takeover of House of Fraser by China's Sanpower Corporation.

In that piece on Monday, I informed readers that my ex-colleague Graham Ruddick, who still works at The Daily Telegraph, and I were responsible for breaking the original story back in November 2012 about how Mike Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United, was trying to buy a stake in House of Fraser. Here is a link to that piece:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9702069/Ashley-eyes-House-of-Fraser-stake.html

On Monday, I also said I thought that there would be another twist in the House of Fraser sale saga that would likely involve Mike Ashley making a final attempt to win control of the business.

And today I see some of the Sunday newspaper business sections have run with the story about Mike Ashley gatecrashing the Chinese takeover of House of Fraser by acquiring an 11pc stake in the company from Sir Tom Hunter. Here are links to several of today's articles:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10747198/Mike-Ashley-takes-House-of-Fraser-stake-to-spoil-Chinese-takeover.html 

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Retail_and_leisure/article1396739.ece

Fancy that!