13th Apr 2016 06:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sports Direct International PLC on Wednesday hit back at a story published in The Guardian newspaper concerning its acquisition of property on Oxford Street and Poland Street in London to house its new Flannels.com flagship store.
The sporting goods and sportswear retailer purchased the freehold property through its subsidiary SDI (Oxford Street) Ltd for GBP108.0 million, and alongside homing the Flannels.com store the company plans to use the office space above as its new London office, replacing its former offices at New Cavendish Street.
Flannels is a fashion retailer, owned by Sports Direct, selling designer clothing for both men and women. It has eight stores across the UK, but so far has been absent from London.
On Wednesday, Sports Direct said it "would like to correct inaccurate information that was published on The Guardian website" regarding the transaction, announced Tuesday.
"This property is a perfect strategic fit. The group has had a long-standing interest in acquiring a flagship site in London for a 20,000 square foot Flannels.com store along with 20,000 square foot of prestige office space to replace New Cavendish Street, which was sold for GBP44.0 million last May (2015)," said Sports Direct.
"At that time the group said its plan was to acquire a prime London site in order to gain more space and strengthen its market position. The group has searched extensively before seizing this opportunity," the company added.
The Guardian published a story Tuesday that said the deal was conducted by Michael Murray, the partner of founder Mike Ashley's eldest daughter, Anna. Murray was put in charge of the retailer's property empire last year and could potentially earn big bonuses, but The Guardian said that appointment raised questions as he had little experience within the commercial property industry.
The Guardian also said the property purchased by Sports Direct was "on the tattier eastern side of Oxford Street with more prestigious Selfridges, John Lewis and Bond Street to the west."
Hitting back, Sports Direct said: "The deal vindicates the group's faith in Michael Murray, who has successfully played a pivotal role executing the property strategy. This is one of the hottest freehold sites in London, superbly located in the mid-section of Oxford Street to the east of Oxford Circus."
"It is just a short walk from the forthcoming new Crossrail link at Tottenham Court Road, which will bring an estimated 50,000 extra people a day to the station in 2018 and it will bring 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes by train," the company added.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/12/sports-direct-buys-oxford-st-store-for-flannels-and-london-office
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Sports Direct