NEWCASTLE United owner Mike Ashley’s retail business Sports Direct has taken control of two high street fashion chains, boosting the share price of the sportswear store company.

The company announced it had bought an 80% stake in both USC and Cruise Clothing from Sir Tom Hunter, sending Sports Direct shares up to their highest point in four years.

As the holder of just under 72% of Sports Direct shares, Mr Ashley’s shares are now worth over half a million pounds more than they were a year ago.

Mr Ashley was ranked as the 651st richest Briton by Forbes magazine in March, with a personal fortune of £1.17bn. This was an improvement on last year, when he was ranked 655th.

Sports Direct has paid £7m for the two fashion chains, and will provide around £20m to develop the businesses. Sir Tom Hunter will retain 20% of both firms. Cruise reported £70m in sales for the year to January and has 38 UK stores, while USC has turnover of around £20m and has 10 stores in the UK. It has been suggested Sports Direct beat JD Sports to the deal.

Sports Direct chief executive Dave Forsey said: “While USC and Cruise will remain independent of Sports Direct, we will support the businesses with our operational expertise.”