The trial against Baugur CEO, Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, and five of his colleagues is not putting a stop to Baugur’s investments in Great Britain.
The company is part of a “£500m property investment fund to buy up UK food stores and retail parks” reports the Daily Telegraph. Other investors include Tom Hunter, the Scottish retail entrepreneur and the bank HBOS. According to the Telegraph Baugur owns about 10% of the fund. The fund is run by Tim Walton, who set up another real estate fund for the three parties which was sold in June.
Investments of the new fund include £200m in retail parks in Northumberland and Oxfordshire.
The Telegraph article says that the investment shows that “Baugur is keen to remain active in UK business despite an ongoing fraud case against members of its management team in Iceland. Baugur has said it intends to keep a low profile while the trial is taking place.”
