Nanjing group eyes House of Fraser

Sanpower Group Co Ltd, a Nanjing-based conglomerate, is in talks to buy high-end British department store House of Fraser Plc for more than 450 million pounds ($749.3 million), media reports said.

Zou Yan, a spokesman for Sanpower, declined to provide details. "It is hard to reveal any information when some projects are in development," said Zou.

The approach by the Sanpower Group could derail a flotation of the department store group, which had been planned for this year, the Financial Times reported.

House of Fraser declined to comment on that report.

Sanpower has been in talks with House of Fraser for several months, the Sunday Times reported, even as work continued on an initial public offering in London.

The retailer, which has 60 stores in the United Kingdom, has held talks with other prospective buyers in the past, including Galeries Lafayette, the French department store, and Mike Ashley, the sportswear billionaire who heads Sports Direct International Plc.

The group operates all stores under lease agreements.

House of Fraser's report for the 12 months ended on Jan 26, 2013, said despite an improvement in sales, the company had net debt of 157.2 million pounds, compared with 163.4 million pounds in 2012.

"We expect to report further growth in full year earnings," said John King, CEO of House of Fraser.

"Given our sales performance, we also expect to finish this year with a cleaner stock position and lower net debt. We are well-placed to deliver further growth in 2014," he added.

The deal is believed to have the blessing of Don McCarthy, House of Fraser's chairman, who controls one-fifth of the group, and it has been put to other investors.

In 2012, Sanpower said it had assets of more than 50 billion yuan ($8 billion) and generated an annual turnover of more than 56 billion yuan. Sanpower, with businesses including finance, retail and information services, has more than 100 subsidiaries.

Among them is electronics retailer Hisap High Technology Corp. Another is Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store, one of the nation's top 10 such stores.

Any acquisition of House of Fraser is expected to be made through one of the many entities controlled by Sanpower, according to the Financial Times.

House of Fraser is owned by a number of groups, and entrepreneurs Tom Hunter and Kevin Stanford each have stakes.