Thai and Austrian groups buy Selfridges
Selfridges, a UK-based department store chain controlled by the family of Canada’s billionaire Weston, has been acquired by Thailand’s Central Group and Signa, an Austrian real estate group, in a deal. 4 billion pounds.
The Thai and Austrian groups on Thursday said they had reached an agreement to buy the retailer founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908, after months of negotiations with Westons.
Central Group, controlled by the Chirathivat family, is Thailand’s largest department store operator. Selfridges will be the UK’s first addition to Top class of luxury stores in Europe, including La Rinascente in Italy, KaDeWe in Germany, Globus in Switzerland and Illum in Denmark.
Last year, Central partnered with Signa in a 50:50 joint venture to buy Globus, and the two corporations also jointly own KaDeWe.
Signa is a real estate, retail and media group founded in 1999 under the name Immofina by Rene Benko. Its shares – along with retail properties in Europe – include Hotel Bauer in Venice and half of the Art Deco Chrysler Building in New York, which it bought in 2019 for about $150 million. together with real estate company RFR Holding. Its real estate assets around the world are valued at more than 24 billion euros.
Ahead of today’s deal, people familiar with the sale said that one of the main attractions of Selfridges’ business was that the brand took full ownership of most of its stores in the UK. and Ireland.
The contract will end the Canadian branch of the Weston family’s nearly 20-year ownership interest in Selfridges. They bought the business, best known for its London store on Oxford Street, in 2003 for £598 million after a fierce bidding war against property investor Robert Tchenguiz.
Following the most recent acquisition, Central Group and Signa’s retail portfolio will have a combined annual turnover of 5 billion euros, based on pre-pandemic values the figure is expected to reach 7 billion. euro by 2024, according to Thai and Austrian consortiums.
“As family businesses, Central and Signa will focus on providing unique and inclusive digital and store experiences for both locals and expats. . . Tos Chirathivat, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Central Group said.
The transaction comes as street retailers face multiple challenges with consumers’ acceptance of online shopping, a trend that has been accelerated by the pandemic. In the UK, the famous retailer Debenhams has forced to file for bankruptcy, while employees own John lewis had to close some stores.
Alannah Weston, chairman of Selfridges and daughter of the late Galen Weston, who acquired the UK department store in 2003, said the deal was testament to “her father’s vision for a beautiful group of department stores. , is really experiential.”
“I am proud to have passed on the baton to new owners who are family businesses with a long-term vision,” she added.