Owners of Selfridges have sought an extension to some of the £1.8B of debt secured against the company’s real estate maturing next year, preparing to put up more cash to make sure interest payments on its loans are made. The future ownership of the world-famous department store chain was thrown into doubt when the chief executive of one of its co-owners, Austrian Signa Holdings, was ousted from the company as Signa seeks to restructure its debt pile. Founder Rene Benko stepped down from Signa over the weekend after pressure from creditors and fellow shareholders to hand control of the €23B (£20B) company to a restructuring expert. Signa needs to sell assets to pay down debt, leading to reports that its 50% stake in Selfridges could be put on the market. 
Signa bought Selfridges in a 50-50 joint venture with Thai department store giant Central Group for about £4B in December 2021. Central is seen as a likely buyer of the other half, The Sunday Times reported.The deal saw the duo buy 18 department stores from the Canadian Weston family,… Read the full story here. | 
