Mike Ashley eyes Clerys as part of Irish expansion

Sports Direct, Mike Ashley's UK-listed retailer that controls the Heatons chain, is understood to be considering sites including the former Clerys building as it plans to expand its Irish operations.

The company did not provide a response to repeated queries about the nature of its interest in the site on O’Connell Street in Dublin, which sources say is firmly on its radar.

Clerys is owned by Deirdre Foley’s Natrium consortium, which bought it for €29 million hours before the store was shut last June. Powerscourt, Sports Direct’s corporate public relations agency, directed all queries on its interest in Clerys to another London agency, Keith Bishop Associates. Mr Bishop, a confidant of Newcastle United owner Mr Ashley, said he had “nothing to say at this point”.

Cheyne Capital, the UK investment company that owns 80 per cent of Natrium, declined to comment when asked if it still intends to push ahead with a planned redevelopment of Clerys into a major retail zone employing 1,700.

Cheyne is known to have become dissatisfied with the level of publicity surrounding Clerys, the closure of which caused outrage after its 130 staff and 300 concession workers were sacked with no notice or redundancy.

Ms Foley and her D2 Private company did not respond to requests for comment. She set up a new Clerys-linked company, Ocs Regeneration, two weeks ago. Natrium filed documents at the same time changing its rules in the event of the transfer of any of its shares.

Sports Direct owns 50 per cent of Heatons, which has close to 60 stores in Ireland, and announced late last year it will trigger a clause to buy the remaining shares for €47.5 million. Sports Direct promised “a substantial multi-million investment” in its Irish operations when it announced the Heatons deal. “Ireland is the fastest growing economy in Europe . . . and a nation of sport fanatics. Our unique offering . . . will be transformative. The Irish retail sector . . . is a great place to be,” it said.