The statement came after Frasers, which already holds 37% of Mulberry, upped its offer for the rest of the firm to 150p a share from 130p late on Friday after an earlier £83m bid was rejected by the company earlier this month.

Challice is controlled by Singaporean entrepreneur Christina Ong and her husband, Ong Beng Seng and can block any bid. It called on Frasers to abandon its bid, saying it came at an “inopportune time” for the struggling brand.

Frasers made its initial offer in an angry response to an emergency £10.75m placing of shares in the luxury group last month to support its balance sheet after slumping to a £34m full-year loss, claiming it had not been made aware of raising “until immediately prior to its announcement” and would have been willing to underwrite it on better terms.

It also warned it would “not accept another Debenhams situation where a perfectly viable business is run into administration” – referring to the 2019 collapse of the department store chain which wiped out Ashley’s £150m investment into the business.

However, it ultimately took part in the raising - buying £3.9m of new shares - a move welcomed by Challice on Sunday.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com