Frasers Group announces long-term strategic retail partnership with Accent Group

·      25-year agreement with Accent Group to launch Sports Direct brand across Australia and New Zealand

·      Increased shareholding in Accent Group by 5% to 19.57% demonstrating confidence in its growth potential

15 April, 2025 - Today, Frasers Group ("Frasers" or "the Group") announces a long-term strategic retail agreement with Accent Group, to launch and operate Sports Direct across Australia and New Zealand, marking the next step in Frasers' ambitious international growth plans.

Accent Group has a significant presence in Australasia, where it is a key retailer and distributor of premium lifestyle and sports footwear with over 900 stores, 12 distributed brands and proven retail operations capability in the Australian market.

This latest international partnership will support Frasers Group's growth across Australia and New Zealand, with the objective of opening 100 stores in the region. This aligns with the Group's bold retail expansion strategy to become the leading global sports retailer.

As Accent Group's largest shareholder, Frasers will work closely with Accent to continue expanding its existing presence across the region's sports retail market, with potential to explore opportunities in further retail and business segments in future.

The partnership will offer Accent Group access to many global brands owned by Frasers, including Everlast, Slazenger, Karrimor and USA Pro, among others. It will also allow for the opportunity to leverage Frasers' strong brand relationships with leading global sports brands including Nike, adidas, Under Armour, Asics, New Balance and more, providing a material new growth opportunity for the company.

As part of this partnership, Frasers has also committed to raising its shareholding in Accent Group to 19.57%, underscoring its confidence in Accent Group's leadership and growth potential. The subscription proceeds of approximately £29 million (AU$60.4 million) will be used to fund the initial roll-out of the Sports Direct business in ANZ.

Additionally, Accent Group has acquired Frasers' discount online fashion marketplace, MySale, consolidating Frasers' Australian operations into Accent and extending Accent's online presence.

Michael Murray, CEO of Frasers Group, said: "Since acquiring a strategic shareholding in Accent, we have developed a robust partnership between Frasers and Accent. Accent has an impressive, well-established platform with various sneaker concepts and a strong distribution of brands. We're looking forward to expanding our partnership to launch Sports Direct in Australia and New Zealand, working towards our bold plan of opening 100 stores. This reaffirms our commitment to drive growth of the Sports Direct brand internationally and marks a significant step forward in our ambition to becoming the leading global sporting goods retailer."

Daniel Agostinelli, CEO of Accent Group said: "After extensive discussions, we are very pleased to announce a long-term strategic relationship with Frasers to open Sports Direct in Australia and New Zealand. Sports Direct is one of the leading sporting goods retailing businesses globally.  Frasers and Accent see a significant opportunity to bring a new and exciting global sports business to the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Accent plans to build a large Sports Direct business in Australia with an initial rollout of at least 50 Sports Direct stores plus online targeted over the first 6 years. The rollout has key brand support and will leverage the proven operating model, combined capability and global brand relationships enabled by the Frasers and Accent alliance.  Accent and Frasers see an opportunity for up to 100 stores in ANZ over time. We are looking forward to working with the Frasers team to bring Sports Direct to ANZ consumers."