House of Fraser billionaire Mike Ashley is considering making a bid for Jaeger to bolster his growing stable of brands.
The fashion firm – whose classic style has attracted famous customers such as Marilyn Monroe and Twiggy – is part of rival Philip Day’s stricken Edinburgh Woollen Mill high street empire.
Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which employs 20,000 staff, faces going bust unless it can raise cash to survive the crisis, potentially making it the biggest failure of the pandemic so far.
Chic: Jaeger’s classic style has attracted famous customers such as Marilyn Monroe and Twiggy
Ashley, 56, whose Frasers Group also owns Sports Direct, is interested in taking over Jaeger, Austin Reed and Jacques Vert, which employ 2,000 people between them, The Sunday Times reported.
TM Lewin’s parent company Torque Brands, Simba Sleep co-founder James Cox and Jaeger’s former owner Harold Tillman are also said to be interested in making bids.
Jaeger was founded in 1884 and started out by selling long johns.
Its clothes were worn by explorer Ernest Shackleton on an Antarctic expedition. Day bought the company out of administration in 2017.
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