Boost from pound's decline spurs Goldsmiths owner's sale options

The owner of some of Britain's biggest high street luxury watch and jewellery retailers has hired advisers to oversee a possible auction of the company in the wake of a post-referendum sales boom.

Sky News understands that the controlling shareholder in Aurum Holdings, which owns the Goldsmiths, Mappin & Webb and Watches of Switzerland chains, has appointed Jefferies to handle a review of options which could lead to a sale later this year.

Aurum (Other OTC: AURM - news) , which is the UK's biggest retailer of Rolex watches, has been a big winner from the fall in sterling after last year's vote to leave the European Union amid a surge in demand from foreign tourists.

Insiders cautioned that Jefferies' appointment had only been rubber-stamped in recent weeks, adding that a formal sale process for the business had not yet been given the go-ahead and would not in any case get under way for several months.

Owned by the US investment firm Apollo Global Management, Aurum saw luxury watch sales soar by 40% in the months immediately after last June's EU referendum.

It is also understood to have enjoyed strong trading during the festive season, although a spate of Christmas trading updates beginning this week with Next (Frankfurt: 779551 - news) is expected to reveal mixed fortunes for the high street.

Next, one of Britain's biggest fashion retailers, has already warned about the likely impact of inflation in 2017, with rivals likely to echo those sentiments in the coming weeks.

Supermarkets including Tesco (Frankfurt: 852647 - news) became embroiled in a row with Unilever (NYSE: UL - news) , the consumer goods producer, last Autumn over the latter's demand for a blanket increase in the price of its products.

Some global companies, including Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) and Microsoft (Euronext: MSF.NX - news) , have sought to put their UK prices up in an attempt to "equalise" the impact of the fall in sterling, while others such as Mondelez International (Frankfurt: A1J4U0 - news) have sought to alter the specification of brands like Toblerone to make them cheaper to produce.

Aurum's performance had already been on an upward curve prior to last June's referendum.

The company, which was bought by Apollo in 2012, trades from approximately 140 stores, including prime retail sites in central London, and employs more than 1,000 people.

It is said to have recorded about £600m in annual sales.

"Brexit has been hugely beneficial," Brian Duffy, Aurum's chief executive, told the New York Times' international edition in November.

"There are undoubtedly more tourists, and they're looking to spend, because they're confident in the value they're getting."

Aurum's retail fascias are said to account for almost half of all British watch sales.

It remains unclear what price tag Apollo intends to attach to Aurum, or who the prospective bidders are.

Apollo could not be reached for comment.