Investors Central Group and Signa Holding have completed the acquisition of Selfridges Group, the parent company of De Bijenkorf.Together, the two companies are building a strong European luxury department store group.
Integration
The deal, which was announced in December last year, is now complete. Thai retail holding company Central Group and Austrian property investor Signa Holding are the new owners of Selfridges Group, which operates 18 luxury department stores in three countries: Selfridges in England, Brown Thomas & Arnotts in Ireland and De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands.
These stores will be integrated into the buyers’ existing 22-store retail portfolio and will be managed by Stefano Della Valle, the CEO of Central Group’s and Signa Holding’s luxury department store group in Europe. Anne Pitcher, the current managing director of Selfridges Group, will leave the company at the end of this year.
Both investors also own such well-known icons as Rinascente in Italy, Illum in Denmark, KaDeWe, Oberpollinger and Alsterhaus in Germany and Globus in Switzerland.
