Brown Thomas owner agrees Selfridges bid

Canadian billionaire and Brown Thomas owner Mr Galen Weston said today he had agreed a cash offer for Britain's upmarket department…

Canadian billionaire and Brown Thomas owner Mr Galen Weston said today he had agreed a cash offer for Britain's upmarket department stores Selfridges.

The deal is worth £598 million sterling (€832 million) or 387 pence per share.

The deal, which ends weeks of bid speculation surrounding the stores, also consists of a 5.25 pence dividend - to be paid to shareholders on May 30th - bringing the total value of the offer to 392.25 pence per share.

Selfridges Chairman Alun Cathcart said the offer was "fair and reasonable" and represented a 60 per cent premium to the company's stock market value on April 8th, the day before the firm first said it had received a bid approach.

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The offer will also assume Selfridges' net debt, estimated to be around £30.1 million. Selfridges is best known for its flagship store in London's Oxford Street.

Mr Weston is chairman of George Weston, the Canadian food group, which owns London luxury food store Fortnum & Mason.