Goldman Sachs said it was placing up to 15.4 million ordinary shares in the retailer on behalf of Ashley, which at Tuesday's closing share price would be worth 117 million pounds ($177 million). The shares closed at 760.5 pence.

Sports Direct declined to comment on the sale.

Ashley, who founded Sports Direct in 1982 and is also the owner of Newcastle United soccer club, will see his stake in the retailer fall from 57.7 percent to 55 percent, worth around 2.5 billion pounds.

The shares will be sold to institutional investors via an accelerated bookbuild, starting immediately, Goldman said in a statement.

Shares in FTSE 100-listed Sports Direct fell heavily in April when Ashley last cut his stake.

(Reporting by Neil Maidment and Anjuli Davies, editing by Kirstin Ridley and Jane Merriman)