Iconic London department store Selfridges sold for $5bn

Iconic London department store Selfridges is being sold to a Thai retail group and an Austrian property company for nearly £4 billion ($5.37 billion).

The deal, which was announced over the new year, will see Thailand’s Central Group, which owns 2,400 malls in Thailand, as well as jointly owning department stores in Germany, Italy, Denmark and Switzerland with Austria’s Signa Group, buy the retailer’s chain of stores from the Canadian Weston family.

It follows the death of the 80-year old head of the family, billionaire businessman Galen Weston in April last year, who bought the luxury retail chain in 2003 for nearly £600 million.

Selfridges now comprises 25 stores worldwide, from the UK, Netherlands and Canada, as well as the historic flagship store in London, which was founded in 1908. However, it is understood that the seen Canadian stores are not part of the deal.

A souce quoted by CNN said that the new owners want to build a luxury hotel alongside the Oxford Street flagship store and to raise global sales to 8 billion euros ($9.1 billion) by 2024, which includes expanding its online store to sales of 1 billion euros.

The flagship London store underwent a refurbishment in 2013, which saw it increase the size of its trailblazing wine and spirit shop, which is located by the Harry Gordon’s Bar on the ground floor. This allowed it to boost its curated and esoteric range by around 100 products, which ranged in price from £7.99 to £18,000.