Frasers Group has published an open letter to Boohoo shareholders claiming that executive chairman Mahmud Kamani “must go” and be replaced by Mike Ashley.
The retail group wrote “a simple choice: win with Mike Ashley or lose with Mahmud Kamani” as it stepped up its boardroom battle with Boohoo.
It urged the fast fashion retailer’s shareholders to vote to appoint Ashley and restructuring expert Mike Lennon as directors of the company at its shareholder meeting on 20 December.
Frasers cited “the dismal results, lack of transparency, terrible refinancing, and further supply chain allegations” as reasons behind its call, and said “the chaos at Boohoo must end”.
It reiterated that these appointments and Kamani’s removal were “in the best interests of Boohoo, its shareholders and its stakeholders”.
The news comes after the fashion retailer snubbed Ashley’s request to be made CEO and hired Debenhams boss Dan Finley instead.
Frasers also responded to Boohoo’s claim that it was acting in “commercial self-interest”, and cited the legal opinion of Rohert O’Donoghue KC who said there was “no competition law issue, nor even a realistically arguable one”.
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Meanwhile, Boohoo has appointed its non-executive director Tim Morris as its independent chair and has confirmed Kamani will become executive vice chair with immediate effect.
The board hs decided to divide the role to allow the company to have an independent chair while enabling Kamani to continue his day-to-day executive role.
Morris has been on the fashion retailer’s board since 2021 and was previously general counsel at TalkTalk and Carphone Warehouse. He said: “I am delighted to be appointed by the board as chair of Boohoo.
“My appointment follows a series of decisive steps taken by the board since launching its business review, including the completion of the refinancing, the appointment of Dan Finley as our new CEO and the successful fundraising.”
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