House of Fraser Acquire World Oldest Department Store

Department store House of Fraser have acquired Jenners - the historic Edinburgh store - for £46m. HoF, which last week stated it was in talks with Jenners, said it had reached an agreement to acquire the retail business and retail assets of Jenners for 46.1m. HoF is also taking over Jenners pension scheme and will make a £3.4m contribution.

Jenners is the oldest independent department store in the world, having traded from 48 Princes Street, Edinburgh, since 1838. The deal includes the Princes Street store, a long leasehold store at Loch Lomond Shores, and leases of stores at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. All will continue to operate under the Jenners name.

HoF said the deal further strengthens its position as the UK's leading retailer of designer brands, and complements its existing Scottish stores in Glasgow and Edinburgh. There is also a potential benefit from adding the Jenners storecard into HoF's financial services operation. Jenners has around 750 employees and in the year to January 30 generated an unaudited gross transaction value of £49.1m and unaudited pre-tax profit of £2.7m. All four branches traded profitably last year and trading in the first six weeks of the current year has been up 2.3 per cent.

John Coleman, chief executive, said: "House of Fraser has a strong Scottish heritage and recognises the landmark position of Jenners and the iconic status that the name has in Scotland. The Princes Street store will be a valuable addition to House of Fraser's existing store portfolio, alongside our existing store in Edinburgh at the opposite end of Princes Street. This transaction represents an exciting opportunity for Jenners' employees in the enlarged group."

Robbie Douglas-Miller, managing director of Jenners, said: "The directors of Jenners believe the benefits of this deal are significant to all parties. The famous name of Jenners goes forward, there are exciting opportunities for the staff of Jenners and Edinburgh continues to have a premier department store operating on Princes Street."