HoF ‘will buy Baugur stake to keep Philip Green out’

House of Fraser will buy Baugur’s stake in the business rather than let retailer Sir Philip Green – or any other rival – get a foot in the door, The Times says today.

Sir Philip has been cashing in on the financial problems of Icelandic company Baugur by trying to buy into some or all of the British retailers in which it has stakes. Amongst them is HoF, of which Baugur owns 35%.

According to The Times, however, HoF chairman Don McCarthy says that the board is ready to buy out Baugur rather than let the group fall into the hands of any other retailer.

“If Baugur ever went into administration…it would take the shares and try to sell them in the marketplace,” McCarthy told the newspaper. “We have a pre-emptive right on those shares, so they are not going to go to someone else. We are not going to let anybody else in.”