The Thai co-owner of Selfridges has said the £4bn acquisition of the department store chain may have been too pricey.
Central Group’s Executive Chairman and CEO Tos Chirathivat told the Financial Times that, in light of increasing global interest rates, the price was “high” in hindsight.
“You would want the lowest price possible to buy something… is £4bn high? Yes, it’s high, especially in this environment,” Chirathivat said in an interview with the British broadsheet newspaper.
“Maybe ten years from now it won’t be too high, but if you ask today, then of course it’s too high.”
Central Group jointly acquired Selfridges with Austrian real estate company Signa for £4bn in 2022 from the Canadian billionaire Weston family.
Selfridges’ new owners then separated its retail operations and property holdings into two separate companies – an opco (operating company) and a propco (property company).
However, the venture’s future became uncertain when Signa called in restructuring experts in November 2023 due to a cash crunch.
The Austrian real estate company had been hit with rising borrowing costs and a fall in property valuations and brought on insolvency specialist Arndt Geiwitz to help it raise money.
However, Central Group went on to become the majority owner of the department store chain in November 2023.
It achieved this by converting a loan from one of Selfridges Group’s subsidiaries into equity.
This also saw shareholders successfully oust Signa chair and founder René Benko, who was pressured to relinquish his voting rights amid the financial turmoil.
“The move solidifies Central Group as an owner-operator of the largest European luxury department store group offering customers the best curation of brands, merchandise and extraordinary experiences,” said Central Group in a statement.
In January 2024, Selfridges CEO Andrew Keith revealed he would be departing from the company after nearly four years of service.
Selfridges Group CEO André Maeder, who joined the business in May 2023, took over his responsibilities in the UK.
Keith first joined the luxury department store as MD in February 2021, before being promoted to CEO last year.