The historic British chain of luxury department stores Selfridges, which has 25 locations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Holland and Canada, was bought for the sum of 4 billion pounds (4.73 billion euros) by an Austro-Thai consortium .
The buyers – according to the media – are the Thai distribution group Central Group and the Austrian real estate company Signa, which have bought 18 of the 25 sales centers in the world. The remaining seven stores, which fall under the Renfrew Holt name and are owned by the Canadian branch of Selfridges, are not part of the sale.
Founded in 1908 by distribution mogul Harry Gordon Selfridge, the group now has 10,000 employees worldwide. It was released last June by the Weston family, who took over Selfridges in 2003.
“It is a privilege to have acquired Selfridges Group, including the Oxford Street store, which has been at the center of London’s most famous shopping street for over 100 years,” Central Group CEO Tos Chirathivat said in a statement. .
The new owners of Sefridges have anticipated that the prestigious brand will be used to develop a parallel branch of online commerce, as well as to enhance the existing physical locations. “Together we will work with leading architects in the world to remodel each of the stores, transforming these iconic locations into highly sustainable and energy efficient modern spaces, while remaining faithful to their architectural and cultural heritage”, declared the president of the Austrian Signa. Dieter Berninghaus.
“I am proud to pass the baton to the new owners, who are family businesses that see far,” said Selfridges Group President Alannah Weston.
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Source From: Ansa
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