Baugur reassures Icelandic turmoil will have 'no impact'

Baugur chief executive Gunnar Sigurdsson said that should any of the Icelandic banks have to sell their overseas assets, the decision would have “no impact” on Baugur’s operations or portfolio of companies.

He said: “In the individual cases where Icelandic banks have direct shareholdings in our portfolio companies, we would emphasise that these are all minority shareholdings.

“For each portfolio company, if a shareholder wishes to sell their holding standard pre-emption clauses apply providing the other shareholders with the right to acquire that stake in proportion to their shareholding.”

If an Icelandic bank sells some or all of its minority shareholding Sigurdsson said that it would only effect the retailer's ownership structure and would have “no impact on the successful day-to-day operations and performance of these companies”.

It is the second time in the past week that Sigurdsson has moved to quash concerns about the effect of Iceland’s financial crisis on the investor.

Over the weekend it emerged that credit insurance giant Euler Hermes has withdrawn cover for suppliers to various Baugur-backed retailers (October 6).

Meanwhile, Icelandic bank Kaupthing, which is also a financial partner of Baugur, has been the subject of speculation about its future and whether it may merge with fellow Icelandic bank Landsbanki or sell off its overseas assets.

Last week, the country’s third largest bank Glitnir was nationalisated and an investment company controlled by Baugur chairman Jon Asgeir Johannesson, Stodir, filed for administration.