Ted Baker’s founder Ray Kelvin has slashed his stake in the business by 55% as investment firm Toscafund surpasses him as the company’s largest shareholder.
The struggling fashion retailer’s founder has bought just £3.5m worth of new shares in the £95m fundraising round announced yesterday, diluting his stake in the business by 55% to 15.8% so far.
By contrast, investment firm Toscafund has nearly doubled its stake in Ted Baker through the share listing to 26.4% according to The Guardian, making it the fashion retailer’s largest stakeholder.
Toscafund founder Martin Hughes is nicknamed ‘the Rottweiler’ for his tenacious tactics with target companies.
The dilution of Kelvin’s stake in Ted Baker sees him further loosen control on the business, which he departed in March 2019 after allegations of inappropriate workplace behaviour including ‘forced hugging’, which he denies.
Since his exit as chief executive the fashion retailer has undergone a torrid period that saw the departure of his successor Lindsay Page, former chair David Bernstein and a string of profit warnings.
In the fashion retailer’s full-year results yesterday it reported a pre-tax loss a loss of £79.9m in the year to January 25, versus a profit of £30.7m the previous year. Total sales slipped 1.4% to £630.5m.
New boss Rachel Osborne said its fundraising round would allow it to implement a recovery strategy that would centre around three pillars of business stabilisation, growth and operational excellence.
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