The online fashion retailer said the acquisition of the entirety of PrettyLittleThing, which will be made for an initial consideration of £269.8m, will allow Boohoo to accelerate its growth “whilst retaining a strong balance sheet in order to take advantage of numerous M&A opportunities that are likely to emerge in the global fashion industry over the coming months”.

The acquisition follows Boohoo’s share price falling 12% earlier this week after a 53-page report by activist investor ShadowFall, which alleged the retailer had provided a “misleading impression” of its free cash flow position and had overstated its free cash flow by 65%.

Boohoo said it “strongly refutes the allegations made in the research note” by the hedge fund, whose founder Matthew Earl is known in the City as the ’Dark Destroyer’.