The Weston Group acquires Arnotts for an estimated 70 million pounds

Wittington Investments, the holding company for The Weston Group and the Selfridges Group, has acquired Dublin department store Arnotts in a deal estimated to be worth over 70 million pounds.

The Weston Group, which owns department stores such as Selfridges in the UK, Brown Thomas in Ireland and de Bijenkorf in the Netherlands, previously partnered with Irish business developer Noel Smyth and his firm Fitzwilliam Finance Partners to purchase a 50 percent stake in Arnotts from private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Fitzwilliam Finance owed half of the department store and had been seeking to acquire the remaining stake from US investment arm Apollo for over a year.

A spokesman for Apollo said to Drapers that the firm believed "this is a positive outcome for all stakeholders in Arnotts, which should allow for a reduction in the company’s existing debt burden and further investment and growth." The Weston Group previously said it has plans to develop the 172 year old Arnotts and its "peripheral properties," and Fitzwilliam noted it will "continue with our plans to develop Arnotts as an iconic retail destination and look for opportunities to develop the adjacent property portfolio surrounding the store as market conditions continue to improve."

A spokesman for Arnotts added that the current board of directors embraced the decision regarding the future ownership of the business and saw the deal as a "significantly positive milestone" for Arnotts.