Weston to announce Selfridges share offer

THE multi-millionaire owner of department store Brown Thomas, Galen Weston, is expected to announce an agreed offer of about £3.70 per share (€2.38) for the Selfridges group.

A successful bid for Selfridges would leave the way free for a merger between Selfridges and Brown Thomas, which has a flagship store in Dublin and branches in Cork and other cities. Such an amalgamation of the two prestigious names would also make Weston’s the second largest department store group in the world.

An offer of £3.70 per share would put a price tag of £570 million on British-based Selfridges and Weston is expecting to have a recommendation from the board when the stock market opens this morning.

Selfridges had a market cap of £548 million last Friday evening when its shares closed at just over £3.55 in London.

It was reported yesterday that the Canadian entrepreneur believes his offer is sufficient to see off competition from a number of other bidders, including a financier backed by Formula One millionaire Bernie Ecclestone’s family trust, Scottish businessman Tom Hunder and private equity group Blackstone.

Weston spent the weekend negotiating with Selfridges and has been named as the preferred bidder by Merrill Lynch, which is working for the British store in the deal.

Media reports said the board of his Canadian company George Weston, of which he is president and chairman, met last week to rubber stamp his bid. Top negotiators for the Weston side were in Britain to talk to Selfridges.

Sources close to the Brown Thomas owner were quoted as saying he had been interested in the British store for a long time.

Even if accepted, his offer for Selfridges shares may yet be outdone by a rival interest group.

Galen Weston is a member of a family of Canadian business people.

His late brother, Garry Weston, was former chairman of Associated British Foods, which once owned Quinnsworth, and Fortnum and Mason. Their father, Garfield Weston, founded AB Foods in 1937.