The majority stake in House of Fraser is set to change hands with owner Nanjing Cenbest expected to agree terms for the sale of 51 per cent to another Chinese business. This would leave Nanjing Cenbest with a 38 per cent stake and Mike Ashley retaining an 11 per cent holding. A spokesperson for House of Fraser said “This will have no impact on the day-to-day operations or strategic development of the House of Fraser business in the UK and Ireland.” Elsewhere it is hoped that new investment will be forthcoming from the new investor to enable House of Fraser to overcome current trading difficulties and regain its momentum.
When Nanjing Cenbest acquired its original stake in the beleaguered department store chain it had planned to open 50 House of Fraser stores in China. To date it has opened just two. The Chinese business was also understood to be ready to invest significantly in the department store group’s UK operations. A number of its senior executives resigned as this failed to materialise and the business has since suffered a poor peak season and is currently looking to refinance its debt package.
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