When Galen Weston, the patriarch of the family that owned Selfridges Group, died in May 2021, there was little indication of the flux the retail giant was about to be pitched into.
Mr Weston had built an empire stretching from Canada to Europe which counted Brown Thomas and Arnotts among its many top-shelf department stores. Within months of his death, the Selfridges unit – which includes the two Dublin stores as well as the eponymous London outlet and one in the Netherlands – was put on the block.
Clearly Selfridges itself was the main attraction to potential buyers. It is an old-world icon for shoppers across the globe. Ask most people to name two stores in England and Harrods followed by Selfridges would probably be the first two to be blurted out. It was no surprise that several bidders emerged. The sale price of more than €4 billion sale price, even at the time, was seen as on the high side though.
So it has proved. The new parent company – a joint venture between Thailand’s Central Group and Austrian billionaire René Benko’s Signa known as Cambridge Retail – has apparently struggled under its debt burden. The company posted a £124 million (€143 million) loss in its first 16 or so months in existence and reportedly began a round of job cuts at its UK head office in August.
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Given that background, plus the difficulties at Signa Group itself – Benko has lost control of his business – it is probably not a surprise that Central Group has been able to move for full control of the company. By converting debt into equity it has taken a majority stake in Cambridge Retail, it said in a statement on Tuesday, and is now in a position to become the new owner of Brown Thomas and Arnotts.
While any change of ownership is naturally a concern for staff, there is little indication that there will be any significant change at the Irish end of the business. While the stores here operate on much tighter margins than Selfridges, the influx of tourists combined with the increase in Government spending should keep sales rolling for the moment at least.
