> The family owners of Selfridges have sold out to a Thai retailer and an Austrian property company for an estimated £4bn ($5.36bn) in a deal which sees the return of the luxury department store’s former boss Vittorio Radice.
> Thailand’s Central Group and Austrian real estate company Signa Holding already jointly own major department stores in Italy, Germany and Denmark via a division run by Radice, who left Selfridges in 2002, the year before Canada’s Weston family bought it for £628m.
> The firms are thought to have beaten off rival bids from the Qatar Investment Authority, which owns Harrods, and Lane Crawford, a Hong Kong-based department store owner.
> The Thai group, which began with one store in Bangkok run by Tiang Chirathivat in the 1950s, last year listed part of the business on the Thai stock exchange, and has other interests in convenience stores, shopping centres and hotels. Signa is owned and run by René Benko, one of Austria’s richest men
> A source told Reuters the new owners hope to build a luxury hotel alongside the site.
Selfridges is known for its bright yellow cardboard bags and its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street,
Unfortunately that only got them a single jumper and wheel of cheese.
That’s another British institution gutted and asset stripped by a bunch of rich foreigners. Great news
The Great British sell off continues thanks to the Tories.
5 comments
> The family owners of Selfridges have sold out to a Thai retailer and an Austrian property company for an estimated £4bn ($5.36bn) in a deal which sees the return of the luxury department store’s former boss Vittorio Radice.
> Thailand’s Central Group and Austrian real estate company Signa Holding already jointly own major department stores in Italy, Germany and Denmark via a division run by Radice, who left Selfridges in 2002, the year before Canada’s Weston family bought it for £628m.
> The firms are thought to have beaten off rival bids from the Qatar Investment Authority, which owns Harrods, and Lane Crawford, a Hong Kong-based department store owner.
> The Thai group, which began with one store in Bangkok run by Tiang Chirathivat in the 1950s, last year listed part of the business on the Thai stock exchange, and has other interests in convenience stores, shopping centres and hotels. Signa is owned and run by René Benko, one of Austria’s richest men
> A source told Reuters the new owners hope to build a luxury hotel alongside the site.
Selfridges is known for its bright yellow cardboard bags and its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street,
Unfortunately that only got them a single jumper and wheel of cheese.
That’s another British institution gutted and asset stripped by a bunch of rich foreigners. Great news
The Great British sell off continues thanks to the Tories.