XXL ASA has terminated the employment agreement with company CEO Freddy Sobin, effective June 4, 2025. The retailer, which operates in Sweden, Norway and Finland, is said to be the largest sporting goods retailer in the Nordic region.
The move came as the company held is Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, June 4.
The company has hired Nicholas Fox, most recently managing director of Sports Directory, and interim CEO. Fox reportedly has more than 18 years of experience in various managerial capacities in the retail and sports industry. He serves on the board of directors of Kangol, LLC and Hudson Holding.
Fox is also managing director at Frasers Group IBML, which is the brand licensing arm of the Mike Ashley-owned UK retail, consumer products and sporting goods powerhouse Frasers Group that owns Sports Direct and other sporting goods and outdoor retail brands.
The AGM minutes revealed that the meeting resolved not to approve the annual accounts and annual report for 2024 or the auditor’s fee for 2024 and other proposals on the agenda.
Frasers Group plc, who was represented with 28,776,450 shares and votes, equal to approximately 96.5 percent of the shares and votes represented at the general meeting, wanted the nomination committee’s proposal to be voted for jointly and informed that they in any case would vote against both the ordinary and the extraordinary remuneration that was proposed to the members of the board of directors.
As previously reported by SGB Executive (see below) in March 2025, it appears that Frasers Group is making another run at Norway-based sporting goods retailer XXL ASA, formerly Megasport.
Frasers in February 2025 retracted its uninvited overture to acquire XXL ASA, citing the condition requiring acceptance of the Intended Offer by a sufficient number of shareholders to ensure that it would hold more than 50 percent of XXL shares and votes on a fully diluted and converted basis would not be satisfied.
An announcement on March 18 was made public through communications with both the London Stock Exchange and the Oslo Stock Exchange, following Frasers’ acquisition of a controlling interest in XXL ASA.
The company said it understands that the primary reason for Fraser Group voting against these proposals is that they currently are conducting a due diligence review of the XXL group and will decide on the above matters following the completion of that review.
The company said this latest announcement is made pursuant to Euronext Oslo Rule Book 2.
Image courtesy XXL ASA
