Thailand’s Retailing Giant Central Group Grows Its European Footprint

This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Thailand’s Richest 2024. See the full list here.

Since entering Europe more than a decade ago, retailing giant Central Group, controlled by the Chirathivat family, has built a sizable presence with a string of iconic acquisitions. Lately, the woes engulfing its now-bankrupt Austrian partner Signa Group, owned by former billionaire Rene Benko, have provided Central an opportunity to further deepen its European footprint.

In November, Central took control of Selfridges in the U.K., increasing its stake to 60% from 50% by converting a loan to Signa into equity. The partners had together bought the famed Oxford Street store for an estimated $5 billion in 2021. In April, Central took over KaDeWe, the more than century-old luxury department store in Berlin owned by Signa, at an estimated valuation of $1.1 billion.

“The additional capital investment demonstrates our family’s commitment to the KaDeWe Group, our loyal customers, employees, and business partners in Europe,” said Tos Chirathivat, executive chairman and CEO of Central, in a statement at the time. Central now operates luxury stores in seven European countries, including Italy’s Rinascente, Denmark’s Illum and Globus in Switzerland.