Brown Thomas-Arnotts sale expected to complete 'in days'

According to reports, Selfridges group is close to being sold to Thai business the Central Group

As well as Brown Thomas-Arnotts here and its eponymous London department store, Selfridges owns De Bijenkork in the Netherlands and Hold Renfrew in Canada.

Brown Thomas and Arnotts could have a new owner within days, with reports suggesting the sale of their parent company is close to being completed.

The iconic Irish department stores form part of the Selfridges group, which according to reports, is close to being sold to Thai business the Central Group for £4bn (€4.7bn). 

Central is owned by the Chirathivat family, one of Asia’s wealthiest, and is the largest department store owner in Thailand. It has a European presence already through acquired stores in Austria and Switzerland.

Speculation regarding a sale of Selfridges, by the famous Weston retail family, hotted up at the start of this month with suggestions arising that the Central Group had emerged as a likely buyer.

As well as Brown Thomas-Arnotts here and its eponymous London department store, Selfridges owns De Bijenkork in the Netherlands and Hold Renfrew in Canada. It remains to be seen whether all stores within the group are sold, but the Irish stores are expected to be part of the final transaction. 

A potential sale of Brown Thomas and Arnotts gained traction as long ago as the summer when the Westons received an unsolicited approach for the Selfridges group from an unnamed buyer.

That led the family to consider a sale and, in July, it appointed Credit Suisse as sales adviser to scout for wider interest, with a reported €4.7bn price tag on the business.

The Selfridges Group is currently owned by the Canadian wing of the Weston family, with the UK-based side of the family controlling the Associated British Foods conglomerate, which ultimately owns another iconic Irish fashion retailer in Primark/Penneys.

It was reported, in the summer, that the hope was to sell the Selfridges business by the end of this year. Last year Central Group bought Swiss luxury department store Globus and other real estate assets in a joint venture with Austria’s Signa for $1bn.

It also owns Italy's La Rinascente, Denmark’s Illum and KaDeWe in Germany. In Asia, it operates supermarkets in Vietnam. Central Group did not respond to a request for comment. Selfridges also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An official announcement could be made as early as Thursday, sources said. Canada's Weston family agreed terms with Central around the end of November, a report suggested earlier this month.

- Additional reporting Reuters