Is this the end of the saga over the sale of the Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville’s freehold? On December 20, the French group Galeries Lafayette, which owns the site, announced that a new player was in the running to acquire the building as early as January 2026.

In a press release, the family-owned group said it had “entered into exclusive negotiations with an Anglo-American player with recognised expertise in real-estate asset management, with a view to selling the freehold of the iconic BHV building as early as January”.

The Parisian retail institution, founded in 1886 and located opposite the capital’s Hôtel de Ville, occupies a 45,000-square-metre building at 52 Rue de Rivoli. The announcement appears to wrong-foot the Mayor of Paris, who had outlined plans, in partnership with others, to take over the historic building and develop a mixed-use scheme combining housing, retail and restaurants.

In February 2023, the Galeries Lafayette group entrusted management of the BHV to Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), run by Lyon-based entrepreneurs Frédéric and Marilyn Merlin, who had been operating Galeries Lafayette’s regional stores since 2021. The agreement was coupled with a plan to buy the freehold of the BHV Marais buildings, as well as the store in the Parly 2 shopping centre. Early in the year, the outlet La Lettre was the first to cite a figure of 300 million euros for the property transaction involving the BHV Marais building.

However, the deadline for the sale agreement was pushed back. While the Galeries Lafayette group had remained discreet about the BHV Marais situation for months, it nonetheless voiced its disapproval of SGM’s agreement with Shein, particularly the plan to install the Asian ultra-fast-fashion giant in Galeries Lafayette’s regional stores. The partners agreed that these seven stores would swiftly switch to the BHV banner this autumn.

The Galeries Lafayette group then clearly announced a December 19 deadline for the buyout project.

For his part, Frédéric Merlin, who had seen the Banque des Territoires withdraw from the project, said he was making progress on financing the buyout, hinting that he was in discussions with Anglo-American funds.

The Galeries Lafayette group has not specified the name of the likely future buyer, nor whether it is a party with whom SGM has been in contact. However, the press release states that “the sale of this strategic real-estate asset (…) is envisaged under the terms initially agreed with the SGM group.”

Since 2023, apart from the main building, most BHV-related assets have been sold, including the BHV Homme building on Rue de la Verrerie in the spring.

Among employees, the main concern is not so much this property transaction or the identity of the potential future owner of the building, who according to some sources is North American, but the department store’s commercial performance. Trade, previously sluggish, is said to have collapsed following the departure of numerous brands in recent months. While management has announced the imminent arrival of a refreshed brand line-up and the resolution of payment issues, the site’s 750 employees say they are awaiting clarity on strategy and hoping for a capital injection to revitalise the appeal of the various floors. After all, SGM will continue to operate BHV Marais.

“This acquisition would be carried out by the investor in agreement with the SGM group, which will continue to operate the BHV,” the statement notes.

SGM, contacted by FashionNetwork.com, did not comment on the identity of the potential buyer or any possible links with it. “We are delighted to have reached this new milestone. We remain focused on finalising this operation,” the company said.

Finalisation could therefore take place in January.