Moss Bros back on bid watch
Kevin Stanford increasing interest in menswear retailer
Upmarket menswear retailer Moss Bros is back at the center of bid speculation focused on clothing entrepreneur Kevin Stanford.
A stock market announcement has revealed that Shami Ahmed, founder of the Joe Bloggs jeans brand, has sold his shares in Moss Bros, as well as his interest in shares held by broker Cantor Fitzgerald under contracts for difference.
The statement also reveals that Stanford, co-founder of the Karen Millen brand, has a ‘beneficial interest’ in blocks of shares held by both Cantor Fitzgerald and banker Kaupthing.
In all, Stanford’s interests in Moss Bros now total more than 28 per cent, close to the 30 per cent mark at which in theory he would have to make a formal bid. However, the use of contracts for difference makes the situation less clear.
Stanford and his co-founder Millen recently sold a substantial chunk of their interest in the Karen Millen business to Icelandic retail group Baugur.
He is reported to have agreed to buy Ahmed’s interets in the Moss Bros shares at a price of about 80p a share.
