Arnotts to acquire lease on Debenhams' Dublin store

Department store Arnotts is to take over rival Debenhams' lease on one of the biggest outlets in Dublin's Jervis Street shopping centre. Arnotts said yesterday it was acquiring the lease on the 7,400sq m store from early next year.

Four weeks ago, the O'Connor family, which owns just under 25 per cent of the Arnotts business, offered €200 million for the company. However, executive chairman Richard Nesbitt, who owns over 60 per cent of the company, and whose family owns the balance of the shares, rejected the bid. The O'Connors and Nesbitts are in dispute over the management and direction of Arnotts.

London-listed Debenhams bought Irish chain Roches Stores last year for an initial €15 million payment and an earn-out deal worth up to a further €14 million.

The sale meant Debenhams got a bigger premises close to the Jervis Street shop in what was Roches Stores' Henry Street branch. The deal with Debenhams opens the possibility that Arnotts will use the Jervis Street outlet when it goes ahead with the planned redevelopment of its existing store on Henry Street, part of the same key shopping area in Dublin's city centre.

A spokeswoman yesterday acknowledged that such a move would be "an option", but said that plans for the Jervis Street site had yet to be finalised.

The news sparked concern amongst both chains' workers. Yesterday, trade union Mandate, which represents employees in both stores, said it was seeking a meeting with both sets of management to discuss the deal's implications for its members.

Arnotts is planning a €750 million redevelopment of an area of Dublin's city centre bounded by O'Connell Street, Liffey Street and Abbey Street, which it has dubbed the "northern quarter".

It is in the process of recruiting a development partner for the plan. Developer Seán Mulryan's Ballymore group and British player Centros Miller are believed to be the front-runners for this. The board has yet to choose which one it will recruit.