Sports MASH Holdings, which is controlled by Mike Ashley, reduced its stake in Sports Direct International Plc by 2.57 percent to 55.14 percent by selling 15.4 million ordinary shares for roughly $168 million on Jan. 20, the British retailer reported.
Ashley, who serves as Sports Direct's executive deputy chairman. , disposed of the shares at a price of 720 pence, or nearly $11, per ordinary share, reducing MASH Holdings stake in Sports Direct to 330 million ordinary shares, or 55.14 of the issued ordinary share capital of the company. In connection with this disposal, MASH Holdings Limited has agreed not to sell, or otherwise dispose of, any interest in any ordinary shares of the company, or enter into any transaction having a similar economic effect, for a period of 170 days starting Jan. 20, 2015.
Ashley founded Sports Direct the company in 1982 and built it into the UK's largest sporting goods retailers and a leading European distributor of Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma as well as its own brands, which include Dunlop, Slazenger, Everlast and the outdoor brand Karrimor. The company now 270 stores in 19 European countries.
