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WH Smith is in secret talks to sell its entire high street business in Britain more than 230 years after it opened its first shop in central London.
Sky News revealed that the listed retail group, which has a market capitalisation of almost £1.5bn, has been in negotiations with a number of prospective buyers of the division for several weeks.
WH Smith will confirm the plan to the London Stock Exchange on Monday morning.
The company’s high street arm comprises roughly 500 stores, employing about 5,000 people across the country.
It is currently part of the same group as WH Smith’s faster-growing, more profitable travel retail business which operates from airports, train stations and hospitals.
The travel retail business comprises 600 shops in the UK, roughly half of a global operation numbering about 1,200 travel retail outlets.
Bankers at Greenhill have been appointed to run the sale process for the high street business, with a deal expected in the coming months.
WH Smith’s high street division, which recorded flat operating profit of £32m last year, still largely sells greeting cards, books and stationery, while the travel arm has a wider offering of food and drink, and technology products.
The travel business now accounts for 75% of the company’s revenue, and 85% of profits, reflecting its higher margins.
It is growing particularly quickly in the US market.
WHSmith’s first store was opened in 1792 by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in Little Grosvenor Street, London.
The company opened the first ever travel retail store in Euston station in 1848.
Source: Sky News