Liberty London could be sold for 350 million pounds

Liberty London department store could be going up for sale after its largest shareholders hired bankers to explore a potential sale of its stake in the business, Sky News reports.

Private equity firm BlueGem Capital Partners has “asked UBS to sound out prospective bidders for business” and is looking for around 300 million pounds for the deal, according to Sky, who added that one source said the number could be as high as 350 million pounds.

Liberty, which was founded by Arthur Lasenby Liberty in 1875 with a loan of 2,000 pounds, is well known for its iconic Tudor-revival store on Marlborough Street, London, which is geared towards luxury shopping, selling designer labels such as Givenchy, Stella McCartney and Victoria Beckham.

BlueGem, which also has stakes in retailers Jack Wills and Mamas & Papas, bought Liberty for just over 40 million pounds in 2010.

Accounts filed at Companies house for Liberty Zeta, Liberty’s holding company, showed profits of just over one million pounds in the 53-week period to 3 February 2018, compared to the previous year’s figure of 19.98 million pounds.

Photo credit: Liberty London, Facebook