Last-ditch attempts by Mike Ashley to seize control of Debenhams descended into acrimony last night when the Sports Direct founder accused members of the department stores group’s board of lying.
After a weekend of talks about a potential £150 million rights issue that Ashley might underwrite in exchange for being installed as chief executive, the retailing billionaire accused the board and its advisers of undertaking “a sustained programme of falsehoods and denials”.
Ashley, 54, who owns 29.9 per cent of Debenhams shares, said that he and two of his colleagues had taken lie detector tests to prove their version of events relating to a disputed meeting.
Click here for the full Times article (£)
Click here for the full Telegraph article (£)
