Buying Britain

There weren't too many deal scoops in the Sunday newspapers this weekend. But that's the way it goes in UK M&A journalism; sometimes reporters get a flurry of mega exclusives and then things dry up for a while.

Still, there was one piece that caught my eye: Oliver Shah's interview with Yuan Yafei, the new (ish) proprietor of House of Fraser. That's because it's not often a Chinese business heavyweight goes on the record with a UK newspaper - and he comes across as a somewhat colourful, hard-working but eccentric character in the well-written piece. Here is a link to Oliver's article:

House of Ashley

Being a rather self-deprecating chap (I'm half English, after all) I tend to avoid shameless self promotion. But on this occasion, I can't resist.

Last Monday, I congratulated Ben Marlow, the M&A reporter over at The Sunday Times, on Betaville for getting the scoop about the £450m takeover of House of Fraser by China's Sanpower Corporation.

House of China

Great scoop from Ben Marlow over the weekend about House of Fraser.

Ben, currently the M&A reporter at The Sunday Times, revealed that one of China's richest men is in advanced talks to buy the 165-year-old department store chain from its eclectic bunch of shareholders.