Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is said to make an offer to raise its stake in Selfridges to 50%.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has made an offer that would boost its stake in the luxury retailer to 50%, after the UK department store’s co-owner fell into insolvency, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News.

PIF already owns a 10% share in the Selfridges properties and has offered to buy the remaining 40% stake for a cash price of $1.3 million from Signa’s flagship property unit, according to an insolvency report dated July 15 filed by the division of the troubled real estate and retail empire. The properties include sites on London’s Oxford Street and in Manchester.

The collapse of Signa, the Austrian company that co-owns Selfridges’ property company, has sparked interest in the retailer’s ownership as its shares become available for acquisition.

According to the document, the Saudi wealth fund is undertaking due diligence with the help of advisers. The other 50% of Selfridges is owned by the Thai retail conglomerate Central Group.