| Wittington Investments Limited | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Holding company |
| Founder: | W. Garfield Weston |
| Hq Location City: | London |
| Hq Location Country: | England |
| Key People: | Sir Guy Weston (chairman)[1] |
| Revenue: | £14.133 billion (2020) |
| Assets: | £15.5 billion (2019)[2] |
| Subsid: | Associated British Foods (54.5%), Fortnum & Mason, Heal's, Wittington Properties |
| Wittington Investments, Limited | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Holding company |
| Founder: | W. Garfield Weston |
| Hq Location City: | Toronto |
| Hq Location Country: | Canada |
| Owners: | Weston family |
| Key People: | Galen Weston Jr. |
Wittington Investments is the name of two privately owned holding companies, one based in Britain, while the other is based on Canada. Both companies are controlled by the Weston family.[3] Through these holding companies, the Weston family control some of the biggest names in food and retail on both sides of the Atlantic, including Loblaws and Associated British Foods.
The British business was incorporated in 1941 and is based in London, England.[4] The company is 79.2% owned by the Garfield Weston Foundation, one of the United Kingdom's largest grant-making trusts, which was established in 1958 by Canadian businessman W. Garfield Weston (1898–1978), and 20.8% owned by members of the prominent Weston family. As of 5 April 2008, the trustees of the Garfield Weston Foundation valued their 79.2% stake in Wittington Investments at £3.62 billion.
Wittington Investments owns 54.5% of Associated British Foods, one of the largest food companies in the world and the parent company of Primark, the largest discount clothing chain in the UK and Ireland.[5] Associated British Foods also owns British Sugar, processor of the entire UK beet crop and producer of half the UK consumption of sugar.[6] Further assets include ownership of the British department store Fortnum & Mason,[7] as well as Heal's, a chain of homeware and furnishing stores in the UK.[8]
"Wittington Investments, Limited" was founded by W. Garfield Weston in 1952 and is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[9] The company is the majority shareholder in the North American holding company George Weston Limited,[10] owner of Choice Properties real estate investment trust, controlling shareholder in Loblaw Companies Limited,[11] Canada's largest supermarket retailer and its in house retail brands including President's Choice, No Name and Joe Fresh.[12] In 1963, Wittington Investments subsidiary, DICOA, (Diversified Companies of America) purchased the controlling share in Howardsgate Holdings, owners of Fine Fare supermarkets and it's various grocery brands, from Associated British Foods for $11.7 million after the business lost $3.7 million.[13] Howardsgate Holdings was sold in 1966 to another subsidiary George Weston Limited,[14] before being sold back to Associated British Foods.[15] [16]
In December 2020, the Weston family announced that Galen Weston Jr. had succeeded his father (Galen Weston Sr.) as the controlling shareholder of Wittington Investments, Limited.[10] This company was the owner of the Selfridges Group of department store chains, including Selfridges in the UK, Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, and De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands.[17] In December 2021, it was reported that the majority of the Selfridges Group's assets were being sold for around £4 billion to a joint venture between Thai conglomerate Central Group and Austrian firm Signa Holding.[18] [19]
In 2024, Wittington Invesments became a Limited Partner in Radical Ventures first $800-million USD growth fund.[20]