Investor's stake in Douglas Holding could hit 25 pct

FRANKFURT Feb 3 (Reuters) - German drugstore entrepreneur Erwin Mueller could end up with a blocking minority stake in fragrance-to-jewellery retailer Douglas, regulatory filings showed on Friday.

Mueller, who already owns 10.8 percent of the shares, is the counterparty to "put" options that would potentially force him to raise his holding to 26.35 percent by mid-September.

"Douglas Holding AG is not in a position to assess whether and, if so, when, this may take place," the company said in a statement on Friday.

Mueller is at odds with the company's founding family, which is considering taking Douglas private with the help of financial investors Apax Partners and BC Partners.

Should he end up with a blocking minority, Mueller could put an end to the family's plans.

Chief Executive Henning Kreke, a member of the family, said in an internal letter to employees obtained by Reuters: "The operating business and strategic direction remain absolutely unaffected by this filing"

Friday's filing became necessary under a new provision in German laws that took effect at the beginning of the month.

This stipulates that all options, including those settled in cash, now trigger disclosure requirements since they could theoretically be used to build a stake.

This was added to prevent so-called "stealth" takeovers, an example of which was Schaeffler's purchase of options in Continental shares that were cash-settled.

Since Schaeffler's counterparties would hedge their risk by holding the actual shares, the company had effectively reserved the right to acquire the stake. (Reporting by Alexander Huebner and Christiaan Hetzner, with Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf; Editing by David Holmes)