Brown Thomas and Arnotts have been sold as part of a £4 billion (€4.7 billion) deal to a Thai/Austrian consortium. The two department stores form part of the Selfridges group, which is being sold by the Weston family to Central Group, owned by by the Chirathivats, one of Asia's wealthiest families, and Signa Holding of Austria.
The two have formed a joint venture to buy the high-end retail business, with ownership to be split in a 50-50 partnership, according to a statement issued late on Thursday.
No price was disclosed but Bloomberg previously reported the Weston family was considering a £4 billion approach and had appointed Credit Suisse as an adviser in June.
The Weston family has owned Brown Thomas since the 1980s and acquired Arnotts in 2015. The family bought Selfridges in London in 2003, with the group's expansion led by Galen Weston, who died earlier this year. Selfridges operates 18 department stores and a total of 25 stores worldwide across its five brands.
Family-owned
Central Group is a family-owned company involved in a host of industries from real estate and retailing to hospitality and restaurants. The Chirathivat family had the 20th largest fortune in Asia, worth $12.9 billion (€11.4 billion), according to a ranking compiled in November 2020 by Bloomberg.
Signa was founded by retail and real estate entrepreneur Rene Benko, who owns or has stakes in some of the world's most famous properties including the Chrysler building in New York.
Selfridges Group will become part of the combined Central and Signa portfolio of luxury department stores, which owns Rinascente in Italy, Illum in Denmark, Globus in Switzerland and the KaDeWe Group, which operates in Germany and Austria. – Bloomberg
