THAILAND’S Central Group plans to buy upscale brands from Signa Retail Luxury Holding, including Selfridges in London, Germany’s KaDeWe Group and Switzerland’s Globus, according a report by Business Insider.

Central Group is in talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) about Selfridges, according to the report. The Thai investor bought the high-end department store in London together with Signa in 2022 for about four billion euros (S$5.8 billion).

After the transaction, Signa founder Rene Benko facilitated a separate deal that gave the PIF a 10 per cent stake in a company that also owns the property used by Selfridges. The retail business and underlying real estate are managed by separate Signa companies.

Central Group wants to lift its stake in Selfridges to 60 per cent and take control of the operating business, according to the report.

The German fashion retailer Breuninger is among more than a dozen suitors eyeing an acquisition of Berlin’s iconic KaDeWe department store, in a deal possibly worth more than 100 million euros, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News earlier this month.

In addition to its eponymous department store in Berlin, KaDeWe also operates high-end outlets in Munich and Hamburg. BLOOMBERG

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