Waterstones buys rival bookseller Foyles
Bookshop chain Waterstones has bought London-based rival Foyles from its family owners for an undisclosed fee.
Waterstones, which itself was bought by New York hedge fund Elliot Advisers in April, has picked up Foyles' four London shops - Charing Cross Road, Royal Festival Hall, Waterloo and Westfield Stratford – plus stores in Bristol, Birmingham and Chelmsford.
“We are honoured to be entrusted with the Foyles business, and greatly look forward to joining forces with the Foyles bookselling team," said James Daunt, Waterstones' managing director in a statement on Friday. "Together, we will be stronger and better positioned to protect and champion the pleasures of real bookshops in the face of Amazon’s siren call."
Christopher Foyle, grandson and grand-nephew of brothers who founded the chain in 1903, said: “My family and I are delighted that Foyles is entering a new chapter, one which secures the brand’s future and protects its personality.”
With 283 shops, including 220-year old London bookseller Hatchards, Waterstones is the largest chain in the UK, and also owns the 250-year old Dublin booksellers Hodges Figgis, plus shops in the Netherlands and Belgium. Sales topped £400m in 2017, with pre-tax profits increasing from £9.9m to £18m.
Daunt, who told the Bookseller than he had been approached by Foyle family to acquire the company, said bookshops were "rediscovering their purpose in the fight back against online and e-reading".
"At Waterstones, we see our future as responsible stewards of shops that strive to serve their customers each according to their own distinct personality. This is nowhere more important than with those shops – Hatchards, Hodges Figgis and now Foyles – that have such singular heritages."
Daunt also told the Bookseller that Foyles would benefit from Waterstones' greater buying power and its centralised services, adding that he had received no pressure from Elliott to grow the business.
Prior to Elliott's buyout, Waterstones was owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, who bought the chain from HMV in 2011. Mamut's Lynwood vehicle injected tens of millions of pounds into refurbishing the stores of the lossmaking business.