Selfridges Set To Fall Into Thai Hands In $5.3 Billion Christmas Sale

Selfridges Set To Fall Into Thai Hands In $5.3 Billion Christmas Sale

Christmas sale: Selfridges is set to go from Canadian to Thai ownership. (Photo by Chris J ... [+] Ratcliffe/Getty Images) Iconic London department store group Selfridges is set to change hands from one billionaire family to another, as the Thai owners of Central Group prepare to complete a $5. 3 billion deal to buy the retailer from the Westons, one of Canada's richest families. The move would also see former Selfridges boss Vittorio Radice – widely recognized as the man who turned the modern-day retailer into a brands powerhouse – return to the business he left 18 years ago. The Thai-based Chirathivat family is set to purchase Selfridges and it is understood that, contrary to wider press reports, the retailer will be purchased directly by the family and not by Central Group, the international retail group it owns. Central Retail group was founded in 1956 with just a single store in Bangkok, launched by Tiang Chirathivat, and last year listed part of the business on the Thai stock exchange. It already owns a number of luxury department stores in Italy, Germany and Denmark through a division run by former Selfridges boss Vittorio Radice, and now has around 3, 700 shops