Weston to invest just £3m in Selfridges bid

Royal Bank of Canada has offered a bridging loan to fund the Canadian billionaire Galen Weston's £628m bid for Selfridges. It is understood that the Toronto-based bank has agreed to lend Mr Weston about 99.5 per cent of the total bid value.

This would mean that Mr Weston would invest only about £3m of his own money. RBC declined to comment.

RBC is financing Weston's bid through two 18-month loans - through Wittington Investments a Canadian-based holding company and through Oxford Acquisitions, a vehicle established to acquire Selfridges.

Bid documents also show that Mr Weston pledged the retailer's assets and his holding company as collateral. The loan to Wittington will be guaranteed by the assets of Selfridges, including the 807,000 sq ft department store on London's Oxford Street and a 250-room hotel. Wittington will guarantee the loan to Oxford Acquisitions.

Mr Weston, 62, failed to secure enough support from Selfridges shareholders to complete the purchase by his original deadline of last week. He owned or had received commitments for 25.7 per cent of the retailer's stock as of Thursday and extended his offer of 387p a share for two weeks.

Shares in Selfridges closed unchanged at 390p yesterday.

Some investors could be holding out for another bid.