British premium fashion retailer Whistles has announced the buy-back of most of the stake owned by the Icelandic government. Whistles is prompt to enter the US market and to restructure its capital. According to ‘This is Money’, chief executive
Jane Shepherdson, commenting for the ‘Financial Mail’, said other shareholders had put more of their own money into the group to free it from Icelandic control, finance overseas growth and to groom the business for a possible sale.As
per the current numbers, Iceland now owns less than 10 percent. Four years ago, coinciding with the financial struggle hike, the retailer was taken over by Jane Shepherdson, former Topshop Brand Director, who now owns a 20 percent stake in the business.Icelandic bank Glitnir also backed the company in the same year. Months later, the bank collapsed and was nationalized, so its share in Whistles (ten percent) was transferred to Reykjavik.
A spokeperson for Whistles pointed out that “The existing shareholders have demonstrated their confidence in the future of the business by investing additional funds to support the acceleration of the strategy. This investment, together with the final repayment of Glitnir’s term debt, has led to some changes in the equity structure of Whistles.”
