Baugur formalizes House of Fraser offer

House of Fraser received a formal offer from Baugur and associates last night for 148p a share. The board said that it intends to recommend the offer at 148p a share, which would be structured as "scheme of arrangement" bid. Shareholders will vote on the deal at an extraordinary meeting set for October 3. HoF also issued a trading update, reporting that LFLs fell by 1.6% in the 29 weeks to mid-August. This represents a modest improvement on the -2.4% reported for the first 19 weeks to early June.

Baugur already holds a 9.5% stake in House of Fraser. The offer by the consortium - which includes the Icelandic investment group FL, footwear entrepreneur Don McCarthy, TBH Trading, and Karen Millen's founder, Kevin Stanford - is being made via Highland Acquisitions.