Mike Ashley’s Frasers follows Hugo Boss bid with offer for Australia’s Accent

UK billionaire’s fashion group offers £166m for takeover of 77.1% of shares in shoe firm it does not already own

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The retail billionaire Mike Ashley has launched his second takeover bid in a week, attempting to snap up Australian footwear business Accent Group, days after announcing a tilt at Hugo Boss.

Ashley’s Frasers Group, which already owns the biggest single stake in Accent at 22.9%, said it will offer 65 Australian cents (34p) a share for the remainder of the business, at the same level as its closing price on Friday.