SIR Philip Green strode back into the public arena today, snapping up a 28.5% stake in Moss Bros.

The retail billionaire has bought the holding from the stricken Icelandic investment group Baugur and indicated he will make an offer for the rest of the High Street fixture, which specialises in hiring out morning suits and dinner jackets.

The deal set the retail industry alight as it indicated Green, the Bhs and Topshop retail baron, is in the market to buy up distressed retailers and especially those controlled or part-owned by Baugur, whose empire has fallen apart in the credit crisis.

Green is paying 24.95p a share, or £6.7 million, for the Moss Bros stake. That represents a 58% premium to last night's bombed-out closing price of 15.75p. The shares were trading at over 50p last spring and nearly 130p in 2005.

"This is a strategic opportunity that was presented to me on Monday night," said Green.

"We like the hire business and we like the Boss franchise business. It is an interesting opportunity. We believe there are a lot of synergies with what we have and we can offer support and buying power. But we also need to get some context here.

"This is in no way us calling the bottom of the market. We do not want anyone going away saying we are calling the bottom because the market is and remains very tough out there."

If Green makes an offer for the rest of Moss Bros it is likely it will be at a further premium and could cost him another £20 million. He said he is prepared for Moss Bros to remain as a listed company and for other shareholders to remain investors in the company, though a wider offer for Moss Bros would go unconditional if he gets control of more than 50% of the shares.

Gaining widespread support from Moss Bros shareholders may be difficult. Just over 10% is held by the Malaysian-controlled Laura Ashley group, while up to another 15% is reckoned to be in the hands of various members of the Moss and Gee families, who have a history of not speaking with one voice. At its most recent results Moss Bros made a £1.6 million half-year loss and said like-for-like sales in its main suit-selling business were down 6.1%. Like-for-like sales in the formalwear hire business were up 2.5%.

As well as owning the Bhs department stores, Green's Arcadia group includes Burton, Topman, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins. Baugur controls or partly owns the House of Fraser department store chain among others.