The elevation last summer of Michael Murray to be chief executive of Frasers Group – Sports Direct, as was – was supposed to signal a less freewheeling approach to buying other companies (and stakes in other companies), or so we thought.
Whereas his father-in-law, Mike Ashley, seemed simply to like a punt on companies he judged to be undervalued, Murray spoke the language of investment discipline. “If it doesn’t fit into sport, premium or luxury or add value to our ecosystem or platform, then we won’t be buying it,” Murray told the FT last year when aspiring to smoother relations with the City.
