Mike Ashley buys House Of Fraser | Border

Prior to its collapse, Mr Ashley had held an 11% stake in the department store chain.

The fate of 169-year-old House of Fraser, which employs 17,500 people, was sealed when C.banner, a Chinese company, pulled out of a deal to pump in money earlier in the month and this sounded the death knell for the store.

The retailer said “significant progress has been made” in reaching a sale of the group’s business and assets.

The deal represents a stunning coup for Mr Ashley, who has harboured a long-standing desire to move his retail empire upmarket by acquiring one of Britain’s leading department store chains.

The Mandate Trade Union is seeking an urgent meeting with the administrators of the House of Fraser group.

The pair are submitting proposals to rescue House of Fraser this week.

The staff are being transferred on the same employment terms and conditions as the rest of Sports Direct’s employees, but Ashley’s plans for the business have not yet been released for the stores, so staff are still bracing themselves for future closures.

It is understood he is also keen to aquire the House of Fraser store in Dublin but it is not included in the main deal. Stores were delaying opening until 11am, however.

House of Fraser at the time say they were encouraged by the fact that so many worldwide retailers opened in Dundrum which they add offered the right size of store.

Joint administrator Alan Hudson said the sale “preserves as numerous jobs of House of Fraser’s employees as possible”.

In an announcement to the stock market, Sports Direct said it had acquired all 59 of the department store chain’s United Kingdom stores, the brand and all of the stock in the business, the Daily Express reports.

Mr Ashley was one of at least four parties squaring off to rescue House of Fraser after China’s C.banner International Holdings Ltd shelved plans to buy a majority stake.

House of Fraser’s pension scheme was expected to enter assessment by the Pension Protection Fund lifeboat, a spokeswoman for the PPF said.

Opened in Liverpool 1856, Lewis’s was a much loved department store and its flagship home store served as the location of the world’s first Christmas grotto in 1879, entitled “Christmas Fairyland”.

It was announced on Friday morning that the troubled business was going into administration but very shortly it emerged that Ashley had agreed a purchase for £90 million.