Baugur scales back US operation
Two thirds of Bonus Stores on the market
July 19 2003
Baugur is reported to be selling more than 200 of its 300-strong Bonus stores chain in the US.
The chain, created by Baugur three years ago from the merger of the Bills Dollar Stores, Bonus Dollar Stores and Bonus Supercenter discount chains, is majority owned by Baugur, with Icelandic bank Kaupthing also having a stake. Baugur chief executive Jon Johannesson also privately owns a small package of Bonus stores in Florida.
Having finally succeeded in becoming a majority shareholder in a UK retailer with its successful bid for Hamleys, Baugur is understood to want to concentrate on its UK and Icelandic businesses rather than the US, where low consumer confidence has hit retail sales.
Bonus is reported to have had problems paying suppliers and was put in the highest risk category by credit agency Dunn & Bradstreet. The Guardian newspaper reports that Baugur is in talks with five regional US chains and hope to sell 214 stores in states including South Carolina and Texas, while retaining stores in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.
A Baugur spokesman told the Guardian: “It has been obvious for some time that the operations in the US were not going as well as people had hoped.”
As well as its imminent takover of Hamleys, in the UK Baugur also owns around 25 per cent of Big Food Group, owner of the Iceland supermarket chain, along with stakes in Somerfield, JJB Sports and House of Fraser.
