Landsbanki: Jenners not for sale

Published on Wednesday 11 February 2009 20:32

JENNERS is to remain in the hands of nationalised Icelandic bank Landsbanki, its parent company, House of Fraser, has confirmed.

The store chain said that it had met senior representatives from Landsbanki – which took control of the assets of troubled retail investor Baugur after it fell into administration – and had held "very positive discussions".

But it added that the bank had reiterated it had no plans to sell its 35 per cent share in Highland Group Holding, the Baugur-led consortium which bought House of Fraser for 351 million in 2006.

Baugur's UK arm was last week placed into administration with PricewaterhouseCoopers after talks with Landsbanki over the group's 1 billion debt collapsed. It was initially assumed that the move would lead to a fire sale of Baugur's assets – which also include stakes in supermarket group Iceland, toy store Hamleys, fashion label All Saints and fashion group Mosaic – potentially paving the way for Scots entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter to buy the House of Fraser shareholding and take a controlling stake in the company.

Retail tycoon and Arcadia owner Sir Philip Green and Karen Millen founder Kevin Stanford were also believed to be considering an acquisition of some of the assets.

House of Fraser said in a statement yesterday following the meeting: "House of Fraser and Landsbanki would like to stress that the recent events surrounding Baugur have no impact on the trading or banking position of House of Fraser and it is business as usual.

It added: "Landsbanki also reiterates that it has no intention of selling on shares in Highland Group Holding, which owns House of Fraser, in the foreseeable future."

A spokesman for Hunter's West Coast Capital (WCC) investment vehicle, said: "We are 100 per cent behind the business and the management team and look forward to the growth of our investment."