LONDON — Boohoo Group has a new chief executive officer, and it’s not Mike Ashley.

On Friday, the board named Dan Finley as CEO just days after Ashley, the owner of Frasers Group and a large minority shareholder in Boohoo, tried to force himself into the top job.

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As reported, Frasers Group had requested an extraordinary general meeting to nominate Ashley as a director and CEO, replacing John Lyttle, who announced last month he was stepping down after five years.

Frasers has a 27 percent stake in Boohoo, and Ashley believed he was the right man to run the fast-fashion company in difficult times.

Finley, 41, is currently CEO of Debenhams, which Boohoo acquired out of administration and transformed into a digital department store. He’ll take up the Boohoo Group role with immediate effect.

Alistair McGeorge, Boohoo Group deputy chairman, said the board was “unanimous” in its decision to appoint Finley, whom he described as “one of the outstanding leaders in a new generation of digital retailers.”

McGeorge added that Finley and his team “have successfully transformed Debenhams from a failed department store, creating a new business model that is a capital-light, stock-light, high-growth marketplace.”

He said that before Debenhams, Finley “had a track record of phenomenal success in online retail during his 10 years at JD Sports. The board looks forward to working with him, as we continue the review of options to unlock and maximize shareholder value.”

Finely said he’s looking forward to exploring opportunities to extend the successful Debenhams business model across Boohoo Group. “I will dedicate myself totally to working with my colleagues to unlock significant value for all shareholders,” he said.

Before joining Debenhams, Finley spent a decade as group multichannel director at JD Sports, and was there when JD Sports entered the FTSE 100.

Finley joined Debenhams as CEO in January 2022, following the acquisition of the department store out of administration for 55 million pounds. Boohoo had beat Frasers to buy Debenhams, which Frasers was eager to acquire.

At the time, Frasers was already a substantial minority shareholder in the ailing department store.

Boohoo said that under Finley’s leadership, Debenhams has achieved a GMV annual run rate of around 800 million pounds, and a community of around 10,000 brands across fashion, home and beauty.