Boohoo Group has banned journalists from attending its boardroom battle with Mike Ashley, as the dispute over the retailer’s future culminates.
The ecommerce giant told media they would not be allowed to attend its annual general meeting, where shareholders will vote over calls to put Ashley on Boohoo’s board, The Telegraph reported.
Only shareholders are thought to be admitted to the meeting, the newspaper believes, with the outcome of the vote expected to be published this afternoon (20 December).
The showdown comes after a months-long battle between Boohoo and Frasers Group over the leadership of the group.
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In November, Frasers, which holds 27% of Boohoo, demanded that Ashley takeover as chair, alongside restructuring expert Mike Lennon as director, to turnaround the loss-making fashion group and put an end to what it described as “dismal results, lack of transparency, terrible refinancing, and further supply chain allegations”.
Frasers is also calling for the removal of Boohoo co-founder Mahmud Kamani.
The retail empire has written to Boohoo shareholders five times during recent weeks calling on them to back its proposal at a meeting on Friday.
However, the Sports Direct owner’s bid to take control could be undermined by its own sliding sales. This month it cut its profit outlook for the year to £550m-£600m after a 33% drop in pre-tax profit to £207.2m and an 8% fall in sales in the first half.
While in November, the Debenhams owner saw pre-tax losses widen from £36.6m to £147.3m in its half-year results for the six months ending August. Sales also plunged 15% to £620m.
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