London - Landsbanki Islands hf. reports that its petition to place BG Holding ehf into administration under English law has been granted at the High Court of Justice in London today. As a result Tony Lomas and Zelf Hussain of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP become joint administrators of BG Holding ehf.

In parallel, the management of Baugur Group has announced that it has withdrawn BG Holding ehf from its request for moratorium in Iceland. This brings an end to any uncertainty regarding the shareholding of the UK companies involved.

The underlying assets of BG Holding ehf include shareholdings in Iceland Foods Group Limited, Highland Group Holdings Limited (House of Fraser), Corporal Limited (Hamleys of London) and Aurum Group (Goldsmiths, Mappin & Webb and Watches of Switzerland). These companies are unaffected by the placing of BG Holding ehf into administration and continue under the control of their respective management teams.

Commenting on the ruling, Landsbanki's Resolution Committee, said:

"We believe that the appointment of administrators over BG Holding ehf is the best way of ensuring stability and continuity for the UK companies in which it has shareholdings. Our role is to maximise the long-term value of those assets and we will give our full support to the management teams of the operating companies concerned. As the bank's interest is primarily in the UK assets of BG Holding, we do not intend to oppose Baugur Group's request for a moratorium on its remaining businesses in Iceland."