Brown Thomas and Arnotts could be getting sold.
Brown Thomas and Arnotts could be on the market – and they could make a whopping €4.7 billlion.
A mystery buyer has put in a bid to buy their overall company for €4.7 billion, but nothing’s been confirmed about who is making the massive offer.
Brown Thomas, Arnotts and BT2 are all owned by Selfridges over in the UK, who are owned by the Weston family.
While our very own luxury department stores are only some of those owned by the group, the staggering amount being offered is believed to be for the whole lot, and not just the Irish brands.
Selfridges are yet to make any comment at all on the proposed offer to buy them out, but insiders are saying that it has caught them completely off guard.
The offer, however, is being taken very seriously by the group as they’ve hired investment bank Credit Suisse to advise them on what to do next.
An executive close to the Westons told the Financial Times: “I am quite surprised they are entertaining a sale.”
“But they are heavily dependent on overseas tourism, especially from China and the Middle East, and they may be looking at the numbers and thinking how long is the way out of the pandemic.”
It was first reported that the buyer was interested in the group by real estate bulletin, React News.
Since losing the face of the company Galen Weston earlier this year, the company hasn’t been the same and big changes are being introduced.
Weston notoriously bought the group in 1966 for his wife Hilary, an Irish model, as a wedding present.
And because of this hefty wedding gift, the couple have been placed in the Sunday Times’ Irish rich list for the past 11 years.
