Selfridges sale gets green light from European Commission

The sale of iconic department store chain Selfridges has been approved by the European Commission after it was concluded it “would raise no competition concerns”.

Last year, the former owner of the iconic retailer, the billionaire Weston family, agreed to sell the business to Thailand’s Central Group and Austrian-based property company Signa Holding, with each company taking a 50 percent stake.

The group’s other retail divisions, which includes Arnotts and Brown Thomas in Ireland and de Bijenkorf in the Netherlands, were also included in the deal.

However, high-end Canadian department store chain Holt Renfrew remained under Weston ownership.

The European Commission concluded in a statement Thursday the proposed acquisition “would raise no competition concerns, given the limited overlaps between the companies' activities, as they operate in different geographic markets”.

Selfridges was founded in 1908 by Harry Gordon Selfridge and was purchased in 2003 by the Weston family in a 598 million pound deal.