Mike Ashley, the billionaire boss of Frasers Group, is understood to be considering a bid to takeover ailing cosmetics brand, Revolution Beauty.
Analysts are noting this move could antagonise rival department store chain Debenhams, which holds a minority stake in the beauty brand.
Frasers Group, which owns multiple retailers including House of Fraser, has reached out to Revolution Beauty about a potential offer, Sky News reports.
Industry insiders claim that Frasers Group is floating a takeover but is not certain to do so amid a challenging environment in the retail sector.
Frasers Group boss Mike Ashley is reportedly eyeing a takeover of Revolution Beauty
PA
Last month, Revolution Beauty put itself up for sale and told investors it was exploring options to create "a more robust capital structure with additional capital to invest into the company".
The cosmetics company claimed it has received a takeover approach from a third party, which is believed to be another suitor other than Frasers Group.
As well as this, Revolution Beauty called for other potential bidders to contact its advisers at investment bank group Panmure Liberum.
To assist with the sale process, the firm has brought in City staple Iain McDonald, who has a seat on the board of Debenhams Group, as its chairman.
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Currently, Frasers Group has a majority stake in Debenhams and recently blocked its attempt to change the company's legal name from Boohoo by voting against its plan.
In recent years, Revolution Beauty has struggled on the London stock market, collapsing by more than 70 per cent in the last 12 months.
It currently has a market capitalisation of barely £20million despite its mass market beauty range being sold in thousands of stores, such as Superdrug.
The brand has built up support from younger consumers thanks to media collaborations with ITV's Love Island.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Revolution Beauty has struggled on the London Stock Exchange
GETTYRecently, Frasers Group has shown interest in expanding its retail business with chief executive Michael Murray building stakes in companies such as THG.
As of today, it is not known if the group plans to make a statement confirming its interest in Revolution Beauty to the stock market next week.
Yesterday (June 6), shares in Frasers closed at 728.5p, giving it a market value of £3.3billion.
GB News has contacted Frasers Group for comment.
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