Shares in fashion giant N Brown are now worth more than they have been in almost a year following the recent investment from Mike Ashley's Frasers Group.
The rise was sparked by the owner of Sports Direct and House of Fraser significantly upping its stake in the Manchester-headquartered group on Friday, January 27.
Since then, shares in N Brown have jumped from 30.4p to 39.5p, their highest since February 16 last year.
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Despite the recent rise, N Brown's shares are still significantly lower than before the pandemic, with their price standing at 150p before the first UK lockdown. They are also well off their all-time high of 582p in 2014.
Frasers Group first invested in the owner of Jacamo, Simply Be and JD Williams in October 2022 and upped its stake the following month.
The group, whose brands also include Jack Wills, Game and Evans Cycles, rescued Manchester online fashion brand Missguided out of administration last year and later snapped up I Saw It First, which is also based in the city.
Before those deals it had already bought Lancashire's Studio Retail Group out of administration and in December it agreed to buy 15 brands from Bury's JD Sports for almost £50m.
In a recent statement, an N Brown spokesman said "We are always pleased to welcome new shareholders to the group as we continue to progress our digital transformation strategy to deliver long-term sustainable profitable growth."
Last month, N Brown warned it is expecting to start its new financial year with fewer customers because of the "soft" UK discretionary consumer goods market and "difficult trading environment".
The group also revealed its group revenue for the 18 weeks to the end of 2022 fell by 7.6% to £249.2m.
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