Billionaire playboy Pretty Little Thing founder sells his stake in the online fashion giant to his father's firm Boohoo for up to £324million
- Mahmud Kamani snapped up remaining 34% of shares in son Umar's business
- The deal cost £269.8m but could rise by further £54m depending on share price
- Umar, 32, is regularly seen enjoying a luxurious lifestyle on his Instagram page
Billionaire Pretty Little Thing founder Umar Kamani has sold his stake in the company to his father's firm in a deal worth nearly £324 million.
Mahmud Kamani, owner of online fashion retailer Boohoo, snapped up the remaining 34 per cent of shares in his son's business today for £269.8m.
This sum could rise by another £54m if the deal can help Boohoo shares hit 491p a share for a six-month period at some point over the next four years.
Umar Kamani posted an image with girlfriend Nada Adelle in Dubai at the start of lockdown
Popular girl band Little Mix, pictured, launched a Pretty Little Thing collection last year
It comes just days after a 53-page report was published by Shadowfall, which bets on share prices falling, alleging that Boohoo had provided a 'misleading impression' of its free cash flow position.
Conflict of interest criticisms were refuted by Boohoo earlier this week.
Love Island stars such as Molly-Mae Hague and girl band Little Mix are among the celebrities to have publicly endorsed the Pretty Little Thing brand in recent years, with other celebrities including Kylie Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, Nicole Scherzinger and Paris Hilton also seen wearing the label.
It has helped 32-year-old Umar Kamani, regularly seen enjoying a luxurious lifestyle on Instagram, develop a personal wealth of more than £1 billion.
Billionaire Pretty Little Thing founder Umar Kamani, pictured left, has sold his stake in the company to Boohoo, owned by his father Mahmud Kamani, pictured right, in a deal worth nearly £324 million
Umar Kamani CEO & Founder PrettyLittleThing.com posted this image on his instagram page of him on his Rolls-Royce Dawn in Beverly Hills
Mr Kamani often posts pictures of him travelling around the world, including here in a trip to Paris
Love Island stars such as Molly-Mae Hague, pictured, are among the celebrities to have publicly endorsed the Pretty Little Thing brand in recent years.
His wealth has allowed him to buy a fleet of cars, including two Rolls-Royce Phantoms, a £300,000 Lamborghini Aventador, a £92,000 customised G-Class Mercedes and a high-end Range Rover.
He leads a playboy lifestyle, regularly travelling by private jet to socialise with the likes of P Diddy, Jennifer Lopez and Denzel Washington.
Other pictures on his Instagram account show him with US reality star Kylie Jenner, dining at the plush Nobu restaurant in Malibu and posing at the wheel of a yacht on Italy's Amalfi Coast.
He did, however, pledge to donate an entire month's salary to struggling small businesses affected by the pandemic back in March.
Despite the sale, in which Mr Kamani and his fellow shareholders will get £161.9m in cash, and the rest in Boohoo shares, the businessman will continue to work as Pretty Little Thing's CEO.
His father, Mahmud Kamani, meanwhile, is planning to sell a Covid-19 home testing kit, thought to be the first of its kind, through one of his other companies.
In a statement today, Boohoo said the deal for the women's fashion brand, aimed at the 14 to 24 year old market was an 'important further step towards achieving its vision to lead the fashion e-commerce market globally.'
The purchase, which had been played down by the company following initial reports, is the latest in a string of acquisitions made by the fashion business, including high street names Karen Millen and Coast.
Boohoo said: 'After this acquisition and with its growing platform of wholly owned, innovative fashion brands, the group believes it can continue to successfully disrupt the international markets it operates in today whilst retaining a strong balance sheet in order to take advantage of numerous M&A opportunities that are likely to emerge in the global fashion industry over the coming months.'
Since Boohoo bought a stake in Pretty Little Thing in January 2017 of 66 per cent, revenues have hit £516m with profits of £45.2m after tax.
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