Frasers seeks to raise Hugo Boss stake above 50%

Hugo Boss has halted a share buyback program launched only days earlier after British shareholder Frasers said it wants to take its stake in the German fashion group above 50 percent.

The Metzingen-based company said its management board decided to suspend purchases of its own shares from the end of Sept. 8 until further notice. Hugo Boss began the program on Aug. 24 and had bought 124,044 shares for around 4.8 million euros.

Frasers, the British retail group controlled by billionaire Mike Ashley, is also putting its support for Hugo Boss supervisory board chairman Stephan Sturm under review. The announcement adds pressure around the company’s ownership and supervisory leadership.

Hugo Boss gave the planned increase in Frasers’ holding as the reason for stopping the buyback. The decision comes before the fashion group has made further purchases under the recently started program.