Amount that Selfridges, a British chain of luxury department stores, is being sold to a Thai-Austrian alliance. The new owners, Thailand's Central Group and an Austrian real estate company Signa Group, will take over 18 of the group’s 25 stores; the remaining outlets will stay under the ownership of the current Canadian owners. Central Group, owned by the billionaire Chirathivat family, and Austrian investor Rene Benko's Signa together own department stores in Germany, Italy, Denmark and Switzerland. Selfridges Group employs around 10,000 people.