Fashion
Hamleys, the 255-year-old toy retailer, is poised to be sold to a Chinese footwear company for an estimated £100m.
C.banner International Holdings has confirmed that discussions to buy Hamleys from its French owner are at an “advanced stage”.
The company released a statement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday afternoon saying it was: “in the process of negotiating and finalising the definitive documentation with a view to entering into a legally binding agreement in the near future.” But it added that no definitive agreement had been entered into.
The expected sale comes during the state visit to Britain by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, that sealed £40bn worth of trade deals, including an £18bn investment in the Hinkley Point nuclear plant, controlled by EDF of France.
Hamleys is best known for its seven-storey flagship store on Regent Street in London, where Father Christmas will soon greet youngsters. The expected move to Chinese ownership is the latest episode in the store’s turbulent recent ownership history, which has seen it pass into Icelandic and then French hands.
The store has become part of the London tourist trail and is seen as quintessentially British, despite its foreign ownership – a trait it shares with several other local landmarks. Harrods, one of the capital’s other big historic retail brands, is owned by Qatar Holdings; Hong Kong-based Dickson Concepts owns Harvey Nichols; while Royal tailor Gieves & Hawkes is part of Hong Kong-listed Trinity Ltd.
C.banner International, which specialises in women’s footwear under brands including MIO and Sundance, said it was interested in Hamleys’ strong brand as part of a plan to diversify its business. It also wants to develop a “strategic partnership” to distribute toys and children’s products via British department store House of Fraser – which was bought by Chinese conglomerate Sanpower last year.
Yuan Yafei, the billionaire chairman of Sanpower, is thought to have family links to C.banner International, which is led by chairman Chen Yixi.
Hamleys was launched as Noah’s Ark in 1760 by William Hamley, a Cornishman from Bodmin, who stocked tin soldiers, wooden horses and rag dolls.In 1881, a new branch of the shop opened in Regent Street, although at a different location from its current spot.
The company was once listed on the London Stock Exchange, but was snapped up by Icelandic retail investor Baugur for £59m in 2003. Since then it has passed through a string of foreign owners.
Icelandic bank Landsbanki took control of the store in 2009 after Baugur got into financial difficulties during the global financial crash. Four years later it was sold on to French retailer Groupe Ludendo, which operates hundreds of toy shops across France, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain.
Under its series of owners, Hamleys has expanded across the UK – adding stores in cities including Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester. In recent years it has also expanded overseas, including opening Europe’s largest toystore in Moscow in March. It is said to be considering expansion into the US.
The revolving door for owners in recent times reflects an uneasy history for the spectacular toy store. In 1931 Hamleys was forced to close. It reopened later that year after being bought out by Walter Lines, co-owner of Tri-ang Toys. Lines was rewarded with a royal warrant from Queen Mary in 1938.
The Regent Street store was bombed five times during the second world war and staff are said to have served at the shop entrance wearing tin hats during the blitz.
Hamleys was issued with a second royal warrant by Queen Elizabeth II, who bought toys there for her children in 1955.
