House of Fraser stake sold by Tom Hunter
Share placing fuels takeover speculation
More that one-fifth of shares in House of Fraser have been sold after entrepreneur Tom Hunter and Icelandic retail group Baugur put their stakes up for sale.
Investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein placed 49.2m House of Fraser shares, amounting to around 21 per cent of the total shares in the business.
Entrepreneur Tom Hunter, who launched an ultimately unsuccessful takeover attempt for House of Fraser towards the end of 2002, sold his 11 per cent stake in the business, while Baugur, which supported the bid, placed the other 10 per cent.
The move renews takeover speculation around House of Fraser at a time when rival Allders is also in play. The two have been linked by reguar merger rumours, and Allders is likely to be under new ownership soon as a result of the planned sale of its majority owner, property company Minerva.
