House of Fraser snaps up rival

Department stores group House of Fraser bolstered its portfolio today by unveiling a £69.4m (€104.3m) deal for UK regional chain Beatties.

House of Fraser, which operates from 51 sites, said the proposed acquisition strengthened its nationwide coverage with the addition of 12 stores, providing around 653,000 square feet of profitable retail space.

Beatties, which is listed on the stock market under the name of its founder James Beattie, began life as a draper’s shop in Wolverhampton in 1877.

Only two of the stores are loss-making, with House of Fraser pledging “prompt action” to tackle one of them – at Birmingham.

It already has a major store in the city and said it was considering a range of options for the Beatties site, although chief executive John Coleman declined to say what these were.

He added of today’s deal: “This is a significant and exciting step in House of Fraser’s growth story.”

The company said it expected to integrate Beatties during the 2006/2007 – a period in which there are no new House of Fraser stores planned.

Beatties also has sites at Wolverhampton, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Aylesbury, Birkenhead, Burton, Huddersfield, Northampton, Dudley, Telford and Worcester. It will continue to operate under its existing brand name, but benefit from the addition of House of Fraser ranges, Mr Coleman added.