Sports Direct said the rebranding, which is subject to shareholder approval at a Dec. 16 meeting, is being undertaken "to reflect the changing profile and consumer proposition of the group."

The group purchased the House of Fraser department store chain out of administration for 90 million pounds ($115 million) in August last year - a decision Ashley said in July may have been a mistake.

Sports Direct was founded by Ashley as a single store in Maidenhead, southern England, in 1982. It now employs 29,400 in 20 countries across six business segments - UK Sports Retail, Premium Lifestyle, House of Fraser Retail, European Sports Retail, Rest of World Retail and Wholesale & Licensing.

The choice of the new brand reflects what Sports Direct calls its "elevation strategy", encompassing the group as a whole.

It said the proposed rebrand follows its decision to bring Frasers "luxury lifestyle stores", to the high street within its next financial year - 2020-21.

"The decision to rebrand the group as Frasers reflects the fact that this new, elevated concept will house the core areas of focus for the wider business – iconic brands, beauty, sports and luxury fashion," it said.

In July, Sports Direct reported a 6% fall in core earnings for the 2018-19 year and warned it could face a 674 million euro bill from Belgium's tax authority.

Shares in the firm, 63.3% of which are owned by Ashley, closed up 1.1%, taking gains for 2019 to 43% and valuing the group at about 1.8 billion pounds.

(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle)