Thailand-based Central Group is reportedly one of a number of companies looking to buy Selfridges.

The conglomerate, which owns Italian department store Rinascente, is not the only company that has expressed an interest in purchasing the retailer.

Last month it was reported that Selfridge’s owners were in talks about selling the department store chain to the Qatar sovereign wealth fund in a £4 billion deal.

Selfridges, founded in 1909, has four UK outlets: its 600,000 square feet flagship Oxford Circus store in London, one in Birmingham, and two in Manchester.

Sources at Sky News revealed that the Central Group is working with Citi investment bankers on its interest in the luxury department store. But the bankers added that there was no certainty a formal bid would be made by the group.

Selfridges began looking for new owners in July of this year, but no new owner has been decided upon.

If a deal were to take place, it would mark the first time that the department store has switched hands in almost twenty years.

Selfridges was purchased by Canadian billionaire Galen Weston for £598 million in 2003.

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