Green may take over Baugur retailers

Sir Philip Green, a leading UK retail tycoon, is apparently in talks to take over the debt of Iceland's Baugur group, and thus effectively gain control of the company.

In a television interview yesterday, Baugur's founder and chairman Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson said: "The person that owns the debt controls the company." He admitted that, should Green take charge, even the fire sale prices achieved for some of Baugur's companies would be the right thing for employees and others concerned.

Green flew into Iceland last week and has been locked in talks with the Icelandic government and Jóhannesson over a deal that would enable the billionaire owner of Arcadia to take control of Baugur's debt at a discounted price.

Green's Arcadia Group owns a number of retail chains in the UK, including Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Outfit, Topshop/Topman and Wallis -- a total of over 2000 locations.