China’s Sanpower Group in talks to buy House of Fraser for $750 mn
01 Apr 2014
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Sanpower Group, one of China's largest privately owned business conglomerate, is in advance talks to buy House of Fraser, in a deal valuing one of Britain's oldest high street chains at more than £450 million ($750 million).
The Sunday Times yesterday reported that both parties have been in secret discussions for several months, even as House of Fraser has been separately looking at a £450?million flotation on the London Stock Exchange later this year.
The talks come after House of Fraser held series of failed takeover talks with prospective suitors, including Mike Ashley, the British billionaire retail entrepreneur, and French department store Galeries Lafayette, the report said.
House of Fraser chairman Don McCarthy, whose family controls 20 per cent of the 165 year-old department retail chain, has already accepted Sanpower's offer and has put forward the proposal to the company's other shareholders.
Other stakeholders in House of are Highland Group Holdings owned by Icelandic banks Landesbanki and Glitnir with a 49-per cent stake, retail entrepreneurs Sir Tom Hunter and Kevin Stanford with 11 per cent and 9 per cent respectively, Lloyds Banking Group with 5 per cent and management with 6 per cent.
House of Fraser was founded in 1849 by Hugh Fraser and James Arthur as a small drapery shop in Glasgow, Scotland as Arthur and Fraser.
The retailer opened its flagship store on Oxford Street in London in 1879 and now has 61 stores in the UK & Ireland, 7,300 employees and annual sales of £1.2 billion ($2 billion).
It was first listed on the stock market in 1948 and was acquired in 1985 by Mohamed al-Fayed, former owner of the iconic Harrods Department Store.
It went public again in 1994 before being acquired by Iceland's Baugur Group in a £350 million deal.
Nanjing-based Sanpower, founded and controlled by multimillionaire Yuan Yafei, is a Chinese conglomerate with businesses spanning IT, finance and investment, retail, media, and real estate.
With a workforce of nearly 30,000 and controlling more than 100 companies, including Jiangsu Hongtu High Technology Co and Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store, Sanpower owns assets of more than Rmb50 billion ($8 billion), and has an annual turnover of more than Rmb56 billion (around $9 billion).
The Sunday Times yesterday reported that both parties have been in secret discussions for several months, even as House of Fraser has been separately looking at a £450?million flotation on the London Stock Exchange later this year. The talks come after House of Fraser held series of failed takeover talks with prospective suitors, including Mike Ashley, the British billionaire retail entrepreneur, and French department store Galeries Lafayette, the report said.
House of Fraser chairman Don McCarthy, whose family controls 20 per cent of the 165 year-old department retail chain, has already accepted Sanpower's offer and has put forward the proposal to the company's other shareholders.
Other stakeholders in House of are Highland Group Holdings owned by Icelandic banks Landesbanki and Glitnir with a 49-per cent stake, retail entrepreneurs Sir Tom Hunter and Kevin Stanford with 11 per cent and 9 per cent respectively, Lloyds Banking Group with 5 per cent and management with 6 per cent.
House of Fraser was founded in 1849 by Hugh Fraser and James Arthur as a small drapery shop in Glasgow, Scotland as Arthur and Fraser.
The retailer opened its flagship store on Oxford Street in London in 1879 and now has 61 stores in the UK & Ireland, 7,300 employees and annual sales of £1.2 billion ($2 billion).
It was first listed on the stock market in 1948 and was acquired in 1985 by Mohamed al-Fayed, former owner of the iconic Harrods Department Store.
It went public again in 1994 before being acquired by Iceland's Baugur Group in a £350 million deal.
Nanjing-based Sanpower, founded and controlled by multimillionaire Yuan Yafei, is a Chinese conglomerate with businesses spanning IT, finance and investment, retail, media, and real estate.
With a workforce of nearly 30,000 and controlling more than 100 companies, including Jiangsu Hongtu High Technology Co and Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store, Sanpower owns assets of more than Rmb50 billion ($8 billion), and has an annual turnover of more than Rmb56 billion (around $9 billion).
