Philip Green goes solo in £770m bid for Arcadia

The retail entrepreneur Philip Green has decided to go it alone with his £770m bid for the Arcadia retail group after deciding to ditch his Icelandic partner.

Mr Green has dropped an agreement to sell Miss Selfridge, Top Shop and Top Man to Baugur, the Icelandic group which itself launched a bid for Arcadia last year.

Instead he has struck an agreement to buy out Baugur's 20 per cent stake in Arcadia at 408p a share and make an offer with fewer pre-conditions, which he hopes will win a recommendation from the Arcadia board.

The Arcadia directors were due to meet last night to discuss Mr Green's 408p-a-share cash offer for the company, which includes the Dorothy Perkins, Burton Menswear and Evans chains. A decision is expected first thing this morning.

Mr Green said he was "reasonably hopeful" that Arcadia would accept the terms.

"We'll have to wait and see," he said. "This time it has no conditions attached to it, which was what I was asked to sort out.... It's cash, and it's a fair price."

Arcadia's shares jumped 10.75p to 388p on increased expectation that the deal would go through.

Sounding tired after two all-night sessions with his advisers, Mr Green was still able to crack jokes about the lengthy negotiation process.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said. "I tell you what, next time, we're going to hire an auditorium and sell tickets."

Mr Green was forced to alter his original proposal after Baugur was hit by a fraud allegation in Iceland, which it says is without foundation.

Baugur has been the subject of further legal problems with Bonus Stores, its US division, and its president and chief executive, Tryggvi Jonsson, being served with a writ by two former business partners. Two Americans, Jimmy Schafer and Courtney Brick, have accused Bonus Stores, Mr Jonsson and two other executives of breach of contract, emotional distress, false imprisonment and defamation over business dealings in the United States.

But Baugur has counterclaimed, claiming fraud and misappropriation of funds after the two men had their contracts terminated in May.

Mr Green's new bid is conditional only on a recommendation by the Arcadia board and the signing of the financing documentation with the banking group HBOS. However, the statement says that while it is Mr Green's "intention to proceed with the proposal" he is "not obliged to do so".