SHAREHOLDERS in Sports Direct have been urged to vote against a property deal that could see its boss Mike Ashley earn £86.8m.
The influential shareholder group PIRC (Pensions Investment Research Consultants) has called on shareholders to oppose Sports Direct's motion to buy 32 properties from the Newcastle United owner at its annual general meeting today.
Under the proposed deal Sports Direct would buy the 32 premises from Ashley at the same price he paid for them despite valuers CB Richard Ellis finding they were worth £54m on a vacant possession basis and Sports Direct's independent director valuing them at £75m to £80m.
Ashley holds freehold or long leasehold on all the UK properties which are used by sportsdirect.com, the company's online subsidiary.
In a statement PIRC said: "The assertion by the board that purchase of Mike Ashley's 32 properties is advantageous to the company is not supported by the board's statements on strategy in the 2011 annual report. T
“The lack of strategic consideration suggests the purchase is not part of a formal strategic plan to convert leasehold to freehold across all the group's properties. The purchase is confined to a specific group of properties that appear to have no business usage."
A statement from Sports Direct said independent directors, other than Ashley, have decided that that it would be "advantageous for the group to own the freehold (or long leasehold) interest ".
