The Watches of Switzerland Group is finalising a deal to buy four stores from Fraser Hart for around £31.7 million.
All four Fraser Hart stores are authorised dealers for Rolex. Without them, Milton Keynes will be the only location remaining from which Fraser Hart sells Rolex. However, Anthony Nichols Group, the parent company of Fraser Hart, also owns Lyons in Croydon and Crouch in Cardiff, which are both listed as Rolex stockists on the Fraser Hart website.
As part of its financial results for the six months ending October 27, WOSG reports that the four Fraser Hart stores have combined annual revenue of £25.7m and earnings of £5.0m.
The transaction is expected to complete in January, 2020.
“We are delighted to announce the addition of four more showrooms to our well invested network through the acquisition from Fraser Hart. These four showrooms are all in excellent locations with high visibility and awareness and have been important distribution points for luxury brands over the years,” says WOSG chief executive Brian Duffy.
Showrooms in two of London’s largest shopping centres in Stratford and Brent Cross will be rebranded as Watches of Switzerland while properties in Kingston and York will become Mappin & Webb stores.
“We have been admirers of the Fraser Hart operations for some years and see this acquisition as a good opportunity to complement our UK showroom network, and apply our best in class practices in merchandising, marketing, systems and retail operations. We look forward to welcoming the Fraser Hart colleagues of these showrooms into our group and working with them into the future,” Mr Duffy adds.
