Canadian swoops on Selfridges

DEPARTMENT store group Selfridges is to be taken over by one of the world's richest men, Canadian billionaire Galen Weston.

The £600m deal ends weeks of speculation about Selfridges, widely regarded as one of the retail sector's most glittering stars. As well as its store in Oxford Street, the group owns two shops in Manchester and is opening in Birmingham later this year.

Describing Selfridges as 'one of the world's great retailing companies', Weston said he would retain the group's management team, headed by Peter Williams.

Directors of Selfridges, led by chairman Alun Cathcart, have accepted the 387p per share offer and are urging other shareholders to do the same. Cathcart said the board regarded the terms as 'fair and reasonable'. The City appears to agree, with Selfridges shares rising 43 1/2p to 399p.

However, the offer could still face a challenge. A consortium including Iranian property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz said it was considering a bid. The consortium, Aletheia Partners, is thought to have financial backing from Formula One racing boss Bernie Ecclestone.

British-born Weston already owns the Dublin store group, Brown Thomas, and the Holt Renfrew department store chain in Canada. The bid is being made by an arm of his Wittington Canada company, one of the largest food processing companies in North America. With an estimated fortune of £3.9bn Weston, 62, ranks as the 43rd wealthiest person in the world. His elder brother Garry, who died last year, invented the Wagon Wheel biscuit and expanded the British end of the family empire, including Kingsmill bread, Silver Spoon sugar, Associated British Foods and Fortnum & Mason.

Galen Weston was sent to sort out the Canadian business in the late Sixties. Today the company is the biggest player in the Canadian food market with a 33% market share, annual sales of £11bn and 140,000 employees.

But Weston has never stayed away from Britain for long. He rents a six-bedroom folly, Fort Belvedere in Windsor Great Park, where Prince Charles stables polo ponies.

Fort Belvedere was where Edward VIII signed his abdication. He lived there from 1928 until moving to Paris with Mrs Simpson in 1936. Weston has spent a fortune on the property, doubling the size of the lake, building a polo stud and landscaping the grounds.

The Weston family patriarch, Galen's grandfather George, was a Cockney emigre who opened a bakery in Toronto in 1882. He once said: 'People will eat horseshit if it has enough icing on it.' Today his youngest grandson has bought the icing on Oxford Street.

Selfridges - a store guide
The oldest existing store in Britain, the shop was opened by Gordon Selfridge in 1909, who said: 'In my store women can realise some of their dreams.'
Initial plans to crown the store with a central dome as large as St Paul's were refused by London regulators.
It was hailed as Britain's first democratic department store, having abolished the practice of employing the traditional 'floor-walker' who accompanied shoppers from counter to counter.
Last year, Selfridges was granted a marriage licence enabling retail-loving couples to exchange vows at its Oxford Street store.
The shop was given a royal warrant by the Queen in 2001.