Rugby retailer Lovell to pass into big hands
LOVELL, the family-owned online rugby retailer, is understood to have been put up for sale with a number of high-profile players circling the firm.
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct and JD Sports are thought to be among those considering a bid. Torquay-based Lovell, the world’s largest online rugby store, is owned by Graham and Myra Lovell.
Sports Direct and JD Sports have continually sought to consolidate their position as sports retail heavyweights through acquisitions.
Last year JD, which also owns Blacks and Millets, took stakes in online sportswear firm ActivInstinct and Scottish outdoor clothing and equipment retailer Tiso.
Sports Direct has acquired retailers Republic, Flannels and USC over the past few years and also owns the Slazenger and Dunlop brands.
Adding Lovell to its portfolio of companies would allow Sports Direct access to an array of new brands associated primarily with rugby.
A previous attempt by Sports Direct to create a bonus scheme for Ashley in 2012 was shelved after it failed to win shareholder support
Meanwhile, investors in Sports Direct will vote on a new bonus scheme this Friday that could net the firm’s founder and controlling shareholder Mike Ashley more than £65 million.
Shareholders will be told that the billionaire should receive 8 million shares in 2018, if specific targets are met.
Ashley, who owns Newcastle United, will receive the bonus if the group achieves profits of £330 million in 2014 and £410 million in 2015. It made a record profit of £287.9 million last year.
The FTSE 100 group has boomed thanks to its cut-price offerings.
A previous attempt by Sports Direct to create a bonus scheme for Ashley in 2012 was shelved after it failed to win shareholder support.
However, the company’s largest institutional shareholder, Odey Asset Management, has come out in favour of the latest proposal.
