Mike Ashley's Frasers Group revealed yesterday that it had increased its maximum exposure to German fashion house Hugo Boss to £840million.
It also confirmed building a stake of more than 5% in struggling British online fashion retailer Asos.
Reuters says that Frasers - formerly called Sports Direct - is on a drive to move upmarket.
It now holds 4.3% of Hugo Boss stock directly and a further 28.5% via the sale of derivatives known as put options.
Asos - the one-time British poster child for the shift to online fashion retailing - said last Wednesday it would overhaul its business model after the economic crunch and a string of operational problems hammered its profits.
It was reported at the weekend that Mr Ashley has seized on Asos's bombed-out share price to build a stake of more than 5%.
Significant shareholder
Market sources said that Frasers notified Asos late on Friday that it had become a significant shareholder. The move came after Asos announced an emergency cost-cutting plan alongside pre-tax losses of £32million.
Frasers has acquired its stake for roughly a tenth of what it would have cost just 18 months ago, when Asos was riding high on the pandemic online shopping boom.
Its valuation had collapsed from more than £5billion in March last year to little over £500million on Friday.
Frasers is now the fourth-biggest shareholder in Asos, ahead of Schroders but far behind its top investor, the Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen on 26%.
Frasers first took a stake in Hugo Boss - a supplier to its House of Fraser and Flannels chains - in 2020.
"Frasers Group has a long history...of making strategic investments to develop relationships and partnerships with other retailers, suppliers and brands," it said, adding that it has "extensive ambitions" to expand in the UK and beyond.
Stake in N Brown
The group this month disclosed a 4.5% stake in online clothing retailer N Brown and is also seeking full ownership of Australian online retailer Mysale.
In June, Frasers acquired Asos rival Missguided out of administration for £20million. It also bought online retailer Studio Retail in February.
Shares in Asos finished yesterday up 4.65p at 514.65p while Frasers moved ahead 12.75p to 633.75p.
Mr Ashley expanded his retail empire in 2018 with the purchase of the collapsed House of Fraser department store chain,
He stepped down as Frasers' chief executive in May and was succeeded by his son-in-law Michael Murray, but he still owns 69% of Frasers' equity.
FTSE 100
The UK's top share index, the FTSE100, was down six points at 7,007 shortly after opening this morning, following yesterday's 44-point gain.
Brent crude futures were up 0.11% at $93.36 a barrel.
Companies reporting today
- Half-year results: Whitbread
- Third-quarter results: Alphabet, Coca-Cola, HSBC, Microsoft, Spotify, Visa