Baugur, the Icelandic retail investor, has filed for protection from its creditors in an Icelandic equivalent of the US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Icelandic bank Landsbanki withdrew funding for the business yesterday.

Baugur, which owns stakes in a large number of UK retailers including House of Fraser, frozen food retailer Iceland, the Mosaic group which owns Oasis and Whistles as well as many more, said this morning that it applied to a court in Reykjavik to enter the process.

Baugur Group and a number of its wholly owned subsidiaries have applied for protection.

It is thought PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed.