An unidentified Qatari family discussed the idea of buying British department store chain House of Fraser, British newspapers City AM and the Financial Times have reported. 

It’s unclear whether talks are still ongoing; the FT suggests that the upmarket store decided not to pursue a deal with the potential Qatari buyers, but City AM’s story is more open-ended, suggesting a deal may still be in the offing.

Qatar has been on a retail spending spree of late. Last month, Qatari investors bought French department store chain Printemps for around $2.64 billion. And earlier this year, it increased its majority stake in US Jewellery chain Tiffany’s. 

Also, in the past year and a half, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, which is estimated to be worth more than $200 billion, has also invested in UK’s the Shard, France’s LVHM and Paris Champ Elysees and Germany’s Porsche.

House of Fraser has a huge high street presence in the UK, with more than 60 branches nationwide.

The store has not commented on the reports.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Gene Hunt