Qatar Holdings Acquires Department Store Harrods

Chandrasekhar Atreya
11 May, 2010
New York City

Qatar Holdings has agreed to buy the world famous London Department stores Harrods from Al-Fayed in a deal of 1.5 billion pounds, including Harrods Estate and a charter aircraft service.

[R]Qatar Holdings has agreed to buy the world famous London Department stores Harrods from Al-Fayed in a deal of 1.5 billion pounds, including Harrods Estate and a charter aircraft service.[/R]

Qatar Holding LLC, the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has bought the famous London department stores Harrods from Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed in a deal reported to be worth about 1.5 billion pounds.

The sale will include all parts of the Harrods group, including Harrods Estates and a charter aircraft service.

The deal brings to an end 25 years of ownership by al-Fayed, as he desired to retire and spend more time with his children and grand children. He will however remain as the store’s honorary chairman.

Al-Fayed who also owns the English soccer club Fulham, bought Harrods in 1985 for about 615 million pounds.

Qatar Holding will be the fifth owner of Harrods since its creation in 1840.

Qatar Holding, which has stakes in supermarket-chain J. Sainsbury, the London Stock Exchange and Credit Suisse, acquired the store to strengthen its economy by diversifying into new asset classes.

Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani, who is also the Chairman of Qatar Holding, said there were plans to upgrade the luxury store, popular with tourists and an historic landmark in the up-market Knightbridge area of London.

‘Harrods generates good and stable returns as a business. It will add more value to our international portfolio of investments, ‘Sheikh Hamad said in a statement.

Harrods has more than 1 million square feet of selling space and its flagship store is located in one of the world’s most expensive areas of real estate.

Credit Suisse advised Qatar Holdings while Al-Fayed was advised by Lazard & Co.