Hamleys owner in talks to buy a majority stake in House of Fraser

The Chinese owner of Hamleys is in talks to buy a stake in struggling department store chain House of Fraser.

Shoe retailer C. Banner has signed a memorandum of understanding with HoF's owner Sanpower-controlled Nanjing Xinjiekou, putting the possibility of a majority stake sale on the table.

The talks, first reported by the Press Association, come after it emerged that HoF's owner had brought in advisers and was considering store closures.

Sanpower, the Chinese conglomerate chaired by billionaire Yuan Yafei, bought House of Fraser in 2014 through its subsidiary Nanjing Xinjiekou.

Rumours that it would sell a chunk of the business to C.Banner first emerged in 2016, but City A.M. understands that the deal is now much closer to being confirmed.

The talks mark a turn of the tables since 2015, when Sanpower was eyeing its own takeover of Hamleys.

C.Banner, whose chairman Chen Yix reportedly has family ties to Yuan Yafei, bought Hamleys from Ludendo in 2015.

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CityAM

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