Thai conglomerate on spending spree with £4bn deal for Selfridges

Selfridges’ owner the Weston family has agreed to sell the iconic department store chain to Thai private conglomerate Central Group for £4bn.

The Canadian billionaires have reached an agreement with Central Group in the last few days, hoping to close the deal by the end of the month, the Times reported.

Founded by American retail magnate Harry Gordon Selfridges in 1908, the chain has now more than 25 department stores across the world including in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

The Westons have owned Selfridges for 18 years and launched a formal auction in July to sell the business.

They initially attracting interested parties such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Hong-Kong department store Lane Crawford.

Central Group is a family-owned conglomerate whose founder Samrit Chirathivat opened Thailand’s first department store in 1956.

Today the business spans over 3700 shops worldwide ranging from electronics to supermarkets, as well as joint ownership of luxury Swiss department store chain Globus.

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close