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Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is adding trampolining and mini golf to its growing portfolio after taking a stake in UK leisure operator We Do Play.
It is the first significant foray into the leisure market for the FTSE 250 retail group that owns Sports Direct and follows its acquisition of several shopping centres last year.
Frasers, run by chief executive Michael Murray, Ashley’s son-in-law, did not disclose the size of its investment.
The retailer’s chief acquisition officer, James France, said the investment was part of its strategy to “diversify and create more dynamic consumer and leisure experiences”.
We Do Play owns brands including Flip Out, a trampoline park operator; Activate, which runs interactive and live gaming venues; mini golf concept Putt Putt Social; and leisure and entertainment venue Rumble Rooms.
Rich Beese, chief executive of We Do Play, said Frasers’ investment would allow it to innovate and expand across the UK and beyond. Frasers said it planned to launch more than 40 Activate locations in the coming years.
Those openings could potentially come in its own shopping centres. Last October Frasers bought the Princesshay Shopping Centre in Exeter, Fremlin Walk Shopping Centre in Maidstone and the Olympus Centre in Quedgeley, Gloucestershire.
The three sites have more than 1mn square feet of space and a combined annual footfall of almost 17mn people.
The leisure brands could help Frasers fill vacant space in its centres and potentially attract more customers. Retailers such as department store operator John Lewis have added brands such as bookseller Waterstones to its flagship Oxford Street site to occupy excess floor space.
Frasers is also betting on a booming market for “competitive socialising”. The number of such venues in the UK has jumped 40 per cent since 2018 to nearly 600, according to Savills. It expects the total to exceed 800 sites by 2029.
Ashley’s retail empire includes stakes in companies including Boohoo, Hugo Boss and electrical goods retailer AO World.
Last year Boohoo shareholders rejected the billionaire’s bid to join its board, following weeks of heated exchanges between the two companies.
Frasers shares were down 0.4 per cent in morning trading on Wednesday and have struggled over the past 12 months, falling almost 20 per cent and valuing the company at £3.1bn.
