Source: FOOTYMAD
Mike Ashley And The Serious Fraud Office
Mike Ashley-controlled sportswear retailer Sports Direct has been under investigation from the Serious Fraud Office. But the SFO has closed its investigation into individuals involved in the acquisition by the company of 31 stores from rival JJB Sports in 2009. The SFO completed its investigation into Sports Direct and JJB Sports in October 2010, bringing no charges against any company or companies within their corporate groups but continued the investigation in relation to individuals. The names of the individuals being investigated by the SFO were not revealed, but the implications of Wednesday’s statement from Sporting Direct International (SDI) is that some individuals from SDI were under investigation, possibly including the majority shareholder in the company, Mike Ashley. In September, 2009, Sports Direct issued a statement to the London Stock Exchange revealing that officials from the OFT and the SFO had visited the company’s head office in Shirebrook and that the company was helping the two agencies with their enquiries. An announcement from the SFO said its investigation was “into suspected offences under the Fraud Act and the Enterprise Act.” The news about the end of the SFO investigation overshadowed the announcement that SPI has successfully refinanced its banking arrangements. The new three year unsecured facility is for £220m through a club of ten banks led by HSBC, Barclays and Handelsbanken. At the group’s current level of debt, the interest payable on the facility is 1.75 percentage points over the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). “The facility provides the group with ample funding to pursue its business and strategic objectives,” said Dave Forsey, chief executive of Sports Direct International.
