Alan Sugar's Woolworths move hits a snag
While it was revealed just last week that Sir Alan Sugar, of Amstrad fame, had acquired a 4% stake in troubled retailer Woolworths it now appears that the deal has hit a snag. The stake was acquired from Icelandic bank Kaupthing's and while payment terms were agreed the stock has not been delivered to Sugar's investment company. It is highly unlikely that he is out of pocket, as the shares have not materialised, but it seems that the Icelandic government has retained them for the time being.
This is yet another example of the farce which is the Icelandic banking system, a system which crashed just a couple of weeks ago with the repercussions still being felt around the world. It will be interesting to see how the stock exchange and the authorities react to the failed move as a deal had been agreed. If the Icelandic investors are found to have reneged on the deal this may have major implications for them going forward.
On a separate note it is not quite clear why Sir Alan would want to acquire a stake in the business, but then again he was never one to do it by the book and looks like going his own way once again.
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