Selfridges property portfolio’s value was reduced by over half a billion pounds in the last year. This highlights the challenges that the department store group faces as it changes ownership for the second time within three years.
Selfridges property holding company accounts reveal that appraisers have marked down £3.1 billion in property assets, including its flagship store at London’s Oxford Street by £638.6 millions. This is a drop of 20,6 per cent. Selfridges freehold property is used as collateral for more than £$1.7 billion in loans that mature in August 2025.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF, last week signed a deal for a 40% stake in Selfridges Group. This includes Selfridges as well as department store chains De Bijenkorf and Brown Thomas in the Netherlands and Arnotts and Brown Thomas in Ireland.
Hilary Weston and Galen Weston, 2020. Galen Weston, a Canadian, bought Selfridges in 2003 as a part of Sears Group for £598m. Selfridges Group will be sold by the Weston family in 2021 for approximately £4bn.
The billionaire Weston Family sold Selfridges Group in 2021 to the real estate group Signa Holding, and Central Group, an Thai conglomerate. This deal was worth £4 billion. Signa Holdings, a heavily indebted property group, collapsed last year after the sharp rise in rates revealed its weak finances. This prompted the company to hold a new auction for its Selfridges stake.
Selfridges has refused to disclose any financial details of the deal last week with PIF.
Central, a family business that includes retail, hotels, and restaurants, was forced by the collapse of Signa to loan Selfridges £98.1m this year in order to cover the financial obligations previously agreed to by the co-owners. Central and PIF invested an undisclosed amount into Selfridges in last week’s agreement.
Selfridges has been split into two corporate entities. One holds its assets, and the other accounts for Selfridges’ operating business. Selfridges has not yet filed accounts for its operating company.
Selfridges in Manchester Exchange Square and an adjacent building are included in the property portfolio which has devalued.
Selfridges’ spokesperson said that the write-downs were driven largely by “external factors”, such as interest rates or market rents.
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