Selfridges New Owner – Central Group and Signa Plan to Reopen The Selfridge Hotel
Main Photo: The world-famous Selfridges department store, which housed The Selfridge Hotel, as was when leased by Thistle Hotels, which closed in 2008
Date: January 2022
Name: TBA
Location: Oxford Street, Marble Arch, London, England, UK
Number of Keys: Was 294
Seller: The Weston family, that owned Selfridges Store, which was leased out to Thistle Hotels in the early 1970s
Buyer: Thai retailer Central Group and Austrian property firm Signa Group
The Weston Family sold Selfridges Group to Thailand-based retail conglomerate Central Group and Austrian real estate business Signa on 24 December 2021. A part of Selfridges’ Oxford Street building has been empty since 2008, when the old Selfridge Hotel was closed.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Dieter Berninghaus, executive chairman of Signa Group, said the new owners want to bring back the hotel and add some luxury serviced apartments. They also plan to upgrade Selfridges food hall, which are adjacent to the hotel which will most probably be positioned as luxury – previously.
“The purchase price merely reflects the valuation of the main Selfridges building and its retail utilisation,” he added. The financial details of the transaction were not publicly disclosed but reports suggest that the Westons had placed a £4bn price tag on the group when it was put up for sale earlier this year. Around £2bn on that value was for property, including the iconic London store.
Chairman of Selfridges Group Alannah Weston previously commented: “I am proud to pass the baton to the new owners who are family businesses that take a long-term view. I know they will fully embrace that vision and continue to empower our incredible team to take the Group from strength to strength.”
As well as the Oxford Street store, Selfridges has stores in Manchester and Birmingham as well as the de Bijenkorf chain in the Netherlands, Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland and online operations.
Selfridges was founded by American Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908 and has 25 shops worldwide including in Dublin, the Netherlands and Canada.
Signa Group owns hotels such as Hotel Bauer Venice, Park Hyatt Vienna and Hyatt Regency Dusseldorf. SIGNA Real Estate operates from eleven offices in Austria, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The Gross Asset Value of the real estate group amounts to 21 billion euros (FY2020), and the Gross Development Value amounts to 23 billion euros (FY2020). SIGNA Real Estate consists of five independent business units.
Central Group is no stranger to hospitality… They own and manage visitor accommodation at all major Thai tourist destinations and around the world under their own banner as well as international brands. Hotels cover all segments from luxury to economy. Central’s own brands comprise Centara Grand, Centara, Centra and Cosi, while internationally-branded hotels include Park Hyatt Bangkok and Hilton Pattaya. In Japan, Central Group is a co-investor in Felice Hotel Group, whose brands include Hotel Felice, Hotel Relief, Hotel ICI, and Hotel Stork.
Central Group has also pioneered restaurant chains in Thailand, and operates well-known local, regional, and international food brands such as Mister Donut, KFC, Auntie Anne’s, Pepper Lunch, Chabuton, The Terrace, Yoshinoya, Ootoya, Tenya, Katsuya and Fezt.
Price: Around £4bn for the whole group
THPT Comment: The original Selfridge Hotel was opened in the early 1970s by what was then Royal London Hotels, owners of hotels such as Royal Westminster, Royal Horseguards and others. They wanted to call it the Selfridge – the Royal Oxford…but the lease agreement stated that any business on the site had to include the word Selfridge in the name!
First Seen: Retail Gazette
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