The British luxury handbags and fashion brand Mulberry looked set to escape the clutches of Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group after receiving the strong backing of its controlling shareholder, Singapore’s Challice, Frasers upped its offer to 150p a share, valuing the company at £111 million, on Friday although it has not tabled a formal bid. But yesterday Challice, which is controlled by the Singaporean billionaire Ong Beng Seng and Christina Ong, insisted it “has no interest in either selling its Mulberry Shares to Frasers or providing Frasers with any irrevocable or other undertaking”. Today Mulberry’s board said it was in talks with its financial advisers and would provide an update for shareholders in due course. Under Takeover Panel “put up or shut up” rules Frasers has until 5pm on 28 October to make a commitment to make a formal takeover offer for Mulberry. Challice owns 56.4% of Mulberry’s shares so any takeover could only happen with its support. In its statement yesterday Challice said it “believes that it is an inopportune time for Mulberry to be sold and particularly regrets the distraction that the Possible Offer is bringing to the Company and its management team at this time.” It added: “Challice...