Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has made a bid to up its stake in Selfridges to 50 per cent for a cash price of £1m, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.
PIF, which currently owns 10 per cent of the luxury department store, has been a private financial backer for three years, following an auction by the Weston family.
Speculation about the ownership of Selfridges has exploded following the collapse of its Austrian co-owner Signa, which also owns the Chrysler building in New York and a host of department stores in Ireland.
The Saudi wealth fund is currently undertaking due diligence with the help of advisers, documents revealed, and as a creditor of Signa, would reduce its claims against the group by as much as £52m.
Bangkok Bank, which provided loans for Selfridges’ Oxford Street site, would also waive about €733m (£618m) in claims against the company.
Following the collapse of Signa, the department store’s other co-owner, Thai conglomerate Central Group, began looking at buying the group’s stake in the business with another partner.
News emerged in April that Harrods owner Qatar Investment Authority was also exploring taking a stake in Selfridges, with interest reignited after its first bid three years ago.
Signa, which was founded by Rene Benko, called in restructuring experts in November after admitting it could not find the “necessary liquidity” to continue running.
Benko suffered a number of setbacks, including having his offices raided by the Austrian police. He has denied wrongdoing and was not charged.
The company acquired Selfridges as part of a joint venture two years ago in a £4bn deal with Central Group, with the business being split evenly between both companies, each controlling half of its operating arm and property arm.
However, the operating business arm has now taken over Central Group, but the property division remains an equal share.