Doha: British department store Selfridges that belongs to the Weston family may be sold to Qatar. The ownership of the store will be changed for the first time in two decades if the sale of $5.5 billion goes through.
Qatar is leading talks to buy Selfridges but the talks are not exclusive, reported the Daily Mail. The Qatar Investment Authority already owns Harrods, another leading luxury department store.
The Kingdom's PIF, Abu Dhabi's ADIA, and Hong-Kong-based business Lane Crawford are also said to be interested in the Selfridges, reported The Times. Selfridges stores are known for their architectural excellence and many consider them to be a tourist destination in their own right.
The popular Oxford Street store, Selfridges has outlets in the Bullring in Birmingham, Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Dublin, De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands, and Holt Renfrew in Canada.