Boohoo Advances with Debenhams Rebrand Amid Frasers' Dissent
(Reuters) -British online fashion retailer Boohoo said on Friday it would rebrand as Debenhams Group even though opposition from top shareholder Frasers meant the name change did not get shareholder approval.
At a general meeting, 62.04% of votes cast supported the official name change, falling short of the required 66% of votes, the company said.
Boohoo did not immediately respond to a Reuters request to comment on how it could move ahead with the rebrand despite the resolution failing.
Frasers, which owns just over 29% of Boohoo shares based on LSEG data, voted against the resolution.
Frasers, majority-owned by British retail tycoon Mike Ashley, in January unsuccessfully tried to oust Boohoo's co-founder from the board.
Boohoo, boosted by an online shopping surge during the coronavirus pandemic, has been facing supply chain issues, weak demand and stiff competition from e-commerce firms such as Shein and Temu.
The company has said it sees the Debenhams brand having the potential to achieve multi-billion pound gross merchandise value in the medium term.
In March, Boohoo appointed Phil Ellis, Debenhams' finance director, as its CFO, following the appointment of Dan Finley as the group's CEO late last year.
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Jane Merriman)
