Both self-made fashion moguls, Mr Ashley and Mr Kamani have clashed over past deals, going head-to-head bidding for failed department store Debenhams, with Mr Kamani securing the takeover. Frasers was left £150m out of pocket after building up a 30pc stake in the department store chain before its collapse in 2020.
Mr Kamani launched Boohoo, which also owns PrettyLittleThing.com , in 2006. Mr Kamani’s father moved to Manchester from India via Kenya and initially made money selling handbags on a market stall, before founding the family’s textiles business supplying the likes of Primark and Marks & Spencer.
Boohoo, which markets budget dresses aimed at social media-savvy gen Z and millennials, went public in 2014, but since the pandemic it has lost close to 90pc of its value. It has struggled to compete with Shein, a fast fashion rival that ships products directly from China to cut overheads.
Frasers said a shareholder meeting and vote would provide a “referendum on the large-scale value destruction and long-term and continued incompetence of the current board and to provide a solution to Boohoo’s leadership crisis”.
Its plan includes appointing Mr Ashley, who stepped down as Frasers chief executive in 2022, as well as turnaround expert Mike Lennon.
