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Wittington Investments

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Wittington Investments Limited
Company typePrivate company limited by shares
IndustryHolding company
Founded1941; 83 years ago (1941)
FounderW. Garfield Weston
Headquarters
London
,
England
Key people
Sir Guy Weston (chairman)[1]
RevenueDecrease £14.133 billion (2020)[1]
Total assetsIncrease £15.5 billion (2019)[2]
Owners
SubsidiariesAssociated British Foods (54.5%), Fortnum & Mason, Heal's, Wittington Properties
Websitewittington-investments.co.uk
Wittington Investments, Limited
Company typePrivate
IndustryHolding company
Founded1952; 72 years ago (1952)
FounderW. Garfield Weston
Headquarters
Toronto
,
Canada
Key people
Galen Weston Jr.
OwnersWeston family

Wittington Investments is the name of two privately owned holding companies, one based in Britain, the other in Canada. Both companies are controlled by the Weston family.[3] Through these holding companies, the Weston family control some of the biggest names in food and retail on both sides of the Atlantic, including Loblaws and Associated British Foods.

British business

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The British business was incorporated in 1941 and is based in London, England.[4] The company is 79.2% owned by the Garfield Weston Foundation, one of the United Kingdom's largest grant-making trusts, which was established in 1958 by Canadian businessman W. Garfield Weston (1898–1978), and 20.8% owned by members of the prominent Weston family. As of 5 April 2008, the trustees of the Garfield Weston Foundation valued their 79.2% stake in Wittington Investments at £3.62 billion.

Wittington Investments owns 54.5% of Associated British Foods, one of the largest food companies in the world and the parent company of Primark, the largest discount clothing chain in the UK and Ireland.[5] Associated British Foods also owns British Sugar, processor of the entire UK beet crop and producer of half the UK consumption of sugar.[6] Further assets include ownership of the British department store Fortnum & Mason,[7] as well as Heal's, a chain of homeware and furnishing stores in the UK.[8]

Canadian business

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"Wittington Investments, Limited" was founded by W. Garfield Weston in 1952 and is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[9] The company is the majority shareholder in the North American holding company George Weston Limited,[10] owner of Choice Properties real estate investment trust, controlling shareholder in Loblaw Companies Limited,[11] Canada's largest supermarket retailer and its in house retail brands including President's Choice, No Name and Joe Fresh.[12] In 1963, Wittington Investments subsidiary, DICOA, (Diversified Companies of America) purchased the controlling share in Howardsgate Holdings, owners of Fine Fare supermarkets and it's various grocery brands, from Associated British Foods for $11.7 million after the business lost $3.7 million.[13] Howardsgate Holdings was sold in 1966 to another subsidiary George Weston Limited,[14] before being sold back to Associated British Foods.[15][16]

In December 2020, the Weston family announced that Galen Weston Jr. had succeeded his father (Galen Weston Sr.) as the controlling shareholder of Wittington Investments, Limited.[10] This company was the owner of the Selfridges Group of department store chains, including Selfridges in the UK, Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, and De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands.[17] In December 2021, it was reported that the majority of the Selfridges Group's assets were being sold for around £4 billion to a joint venture between Thai conglomerate Central Group and Austrian firm Signa Holding.[18][19]

In 2024, Wittington Invesments became a Limited Partner in Radical Ventures first $800-million USD growth fund.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Wittington Investments Limited". Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  2. ^ "WITTINGTON INVESTMENTS LIMITED company key information". UK.GlobalDatabase.com. 1941-03-22. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  3. ^ "Wittington Investments Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  4. ^ "Company Overview of Wittington Investments Limited". Bloomberg Business. 31 August 2015.
  5. ^ Associated British Foods. "Annual Report 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Obituary: Garry Weston". The Independent. UK. 16 February 2002. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Wittington Investments Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  8. ^ "Weston dynasty furnishes Heal's with new home". The Guardian. 21 June 2001.
  9. ^ "Wittington Investments, Limited". Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Weston Family Announces Succession". newswire.ca. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
  11. ^ "George Weston Limited – 2015 Annual Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  12. ^ Loblaw Companies Limited 2010 annual report. Toronto: Loblaw Companies Limited. 2011.
  13. ^ Davies, Charles (1987). Bread men : How the Westons built an international empire. Key Porter Books. p. 111-112. ISBN 1550130501.
  14. ^ Davies, Charles (1987). Bread men : How the Westons built an international empire. Key Porter Books. p. 113-114. ISBN 1550130501.
  15. ^ George Weston Ltd (1967). 1967. p. 8.
  16. ^ George Weston Ltd (1968). 1968.
  17. ^ "Brown Thomas and Arnotts may sell in £4bn Selfridges deal". Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  18. ^ "Selfridges sold for £4bn to Thai-Austrian alliance". BBC News. 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2021-12-24.
  19. ^ "CENTRAL GROUP AND SIGNA HOLDING TO ACQUIRE SELFRIDGES GROUP FROM THE WESTON FAMILY". selfridgespress.com. Selfridges. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  20. ^ "Radical Ventures launches $800-million USD AI growth fund | BetaKit". 2024-08-15. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
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