Selfridges Owners Sell Company for Estimated $5.36 Billion USD
The Weston family have sold the group to a Thai-Austrian group.
Six months after news first emerged of a potential Selfridges sale, the legendary London store has now been acquired by Thai retail group Central Group and Austrian property company Signa Holding. The joint deal is valued at an estimated £4 billion GBP (approximately $5.36 billion USD).
The deal includes the four Selfridges stores across the U.K., as well as Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland and the Netherlands-based De Bijenkorf group of department stores. The group’s prime property assets are also included, particularly the freehold to the iconic Oxford Street flagship store in London. According to reports, the new owners are now considering building a luxury hotel alongside the London location.
Central and Signa will own the group in a 50/50 partnership, taking over from the Weston family, who purchased Selfridges in 2003. The new partnership group is believed to have seen off rival bids from the Qatar Investment Authority (owner of Harrods) and Hong Kong-based Lane Crawford.
Announcing the news on Instagram, Central Group pointed to a potential turnover of €7 billion EUR by 2024 for the Selfridges group alongside their other holdings. The group also added that the deal, “will create a complementary portfolio of leading European luxury department stores, which will enable innovation, know-how and knowledge-sharing to be shared across different locations.”
In other business news, Nike recently announced the acquisition of RTFKT.
