By Laura McGuire
The owners of Selfridges have said they are “very confident” about the outlook for this year as it sought to play down reported concerns that its debt pile, worth over £1.7bn, could cause problems for the luxury department store.
The Telegraph reported that the Thai and Austrian owners of Selfridges have laden the firm with over £1.7bn of debt since taking control of the store last autumn.
The Weston family agreed to sell Selfridges Group for around £4 billion to a joint venture between Thai conglomerate Central Group and Austria’s Signa Holding in December 2021, which completed in August last year.
Company filings show that the London branch of Bangkok Bank provided a loan of £1.7bn that is “secured against the freehold of Selfridges flagship London store”.
The Telegraph also reported that a separate large loan, which has been redacted in the company’s filings, was also provided by Swiss lender EFG Bank and secured against Selfridges Exchange Square site in Manchester.
Selfridges refused to provide more details on the second loan when contacted by City A.M.
But it pushed back against suggestions that the debt was something to worry about.
“Selfridges enjoyed the best Christmas ever in 2022, and we remain very confident about 2023 and beyond,” a spokesperson for Selfridges told City A.M.
A source familiar with the matter told City A.M. that the both of the loans were used to fund the acquisition of the store. “It was a fairly straight forwarded property charge, there’s nothing more to it than that,” the source said.
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