Hunter buys £1.7m Allders shares

Published on Tuesday 7 January 2003 00:00

SCOTTISH entrepreneur Tom Hunter is understood to have splashed out about £1.7 million yesterday in snapping up a further 1.3 per cent in department store group Allders, currently at the heart of a takeover bid.

Market sources said that Hunter had bought a further one million shares in Allders at a price of about 167p, which would take his stake in the company up from 5.3 per cent to 6.6 per cent.

Hunter’s vehicle for the purchases, West Coast Capital, would neither confirm nor deny the purchase last night. "We do not comment on market speculation," a spokesman said.

Allders has accepted a 160p-per-share bid from Scarlett Retail, a company formed by Minerva, the property developer, and Terry Green, the former chief executive of Bhs and Debenhams.

But industry sources say that if Hunter is able to amass a 7.5 per cent stake, his apparent plan, then he can stop Scarlett from forcing minority shareholders to accept its offer. Then Green and his team would have to talk to him.

The Scot has previously been said to want a "seat at the table" in discussing Allders’ future. But others believe that he may make a rival offer for Allders as a stepping stone to merging it with House of Fraser department store, for which Hunter has made a rebuffed 85p-per-share bid.

One source close to the battle for Allders said last night: "Most followers of the two department store groups involved believe Hunter wants to keep his options as wide and varied as possible."

However, a retailing analyst commented: "This does still look more like Hunter wanting a voice in where things go from here with Allders.

"In this situation, people tend to say nothing is ruled in or out. But it still looks very unlikely he would want two takeover bids on the go at the same time."

A formal announcement of yesterday’s renewed share-buying in Allders is expected to come via the London Stock Exchange from West Coast Capital as early as today.

A Christmas trading statement is due out from HoF this Thursday. The Hunter camp is believed to think it will show that HoF has continued to underperform, and then the entrepreneur will consider his next move.

Many in the retailing sector believe that Hunter sees significant consolidation opportunities between Allders and HoF, which have both struggled in recent times.

Allders main site is in the shopping centre of the south London suburb of Croydon.