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Harrods sold for £1.5bn

Mohamed Al-Fayed is handing over the keys of Harrods to the Qatari royal family in a mega-bucks deal.

Mohamed Al-Fayed sold London's famous Harrods department store to the Qatari royal family for a reported £1.5bn over the weekend.

The 81-year-old Egyptian-born businessman is believed to have put the Knightsbridge store up for sale after deciding to spend more time with his children and grandchildren, signalling that he could soon retire.

According to Ken Costa, an adviser to the deal with Qatar Holdings (an investment company owned by the Qatari royal family), Al-Fayed will continue to be a part of the Harrods brand as an honorary chairman but will step down from the day-to-day running of the business.

Al-Fayed, who also owns London's Fulham Football Club, bought Harrods in 1985 for £615m - more than doubling his money in the weekend's sale.

The Qatari royal family, who rule the small Arab emirate of Qatar, sealed the deal in Amsterdam late on Friday night after months of talks with Al-Fayed. The acquisition sees the family's investment company now hold the complete Harrods group, including Harrods Estates and a charter aircraft service.

Its chairman, Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Muhammad Al Thani, who is also Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, told reporters at a news conference: "What I can assure you is Qatar Holding will do their best to upgrade this monument, to make it even greater and better for the tourism and also for the British people."

He revealed that the group will create a "road map" to improve Harrods in the next few months.

Picture: Mohamed Al-Fayed and Mischa Barton at the opening of the Harrods summer sale last year.

harrods.com