Selfridges held talks for e-commerce spin-off

Selfridges & Co., the famed London department store, has held talks with potential investors about spinning off its e-commerce business. The news was reported by Business of Fashion. At the same time, a potential sale of the department store group could be on the table. The move echoes a similar move that U.S.-based Saks Fifth Avenue made by spinning off saks.com into its own standalone venture.

The Weston family, which owns Selfridges, and advisers at Credit Suisse are considering a 5.4-billion-dollar unsolicited offer for Selfridges. Selfridges had declined to comment on the potential sale of its business.

Selfridges is known as one of the most famed department stores in the world and is considered a destination for many London tourists and affluent shoppers. Selfridges does not report on specifics for their e-commerce sales but has said that thanks to e-commerce they were able to weather the multiple lockdowns that London faced.

Retail’s already continuous e-commerce growth was expedited by the COVID-19 pandemic where the only saving grace for apparel was e-commerce. This caused many stores and brands to accelerate investment in e-commerce and expand their e-commerce business faster than planned.