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		</div><p>255-year-old toy retailer, is in “advanced” talks to be sold to a Chinese women’s footwear business for £100m.</p>
<p>Hong Kong-listed C.banner International Holdings confirmed discussions with Hamleys’ owner, French retailer Groupe Ludendo, have “reached an advanced stage”.</p>
<p>The Chinese shoemaker added it was “in the process of negotiating and finalising the definitive documentation with a view to entering in to a legally-binding agreement in the near future”.</p>
<p>The deal for the retailer – known as the oldest toy shop in the world – comes during Chinese president Xi Jinping’s state visit to the UK which should seal more than £30 billion of bilateral trade deals.</p>
<p>Hamley&#8217;s is best known for its flagship store on Regent Street in London but has branched out to countries such as India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia in recent years. It opened a store in Moscow this April.<br />
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<p>Groupe Ludendo bought Hamleys in 2012 for £60m.</p>
<p>Prior to that, the toy store was acquired by Iceland’s retail conglomerate Baugur Group for £59m in 2003. It was then taken over by Icelandic lender Landsbanki – which was itself later nationalised – when the retailing group collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis.</p>
<p>Hamley&#8217;s was launched as Noah’s Ark in 1760 by William Hamley, a Cornishman from Bodmin, who sold tin soldiers, wooden horses and rag dolls.</p>
<p>In 1881, a new branch of the shop opened in Regent Street, although at a different location from the current shop.</p>
<p>Hamley&#8217;s was issued with a second royal warrant by the Queen, who bought toys there for her children in 1955.</p>
<p>C.banner claims to be the second largest retailer of middle-to-high-end women’s formal and leisure footwear in China. The business has a market capitalisation of around £536 million.</p>
<p>In recent years the firm has branched out into the distribution of other international brands, such as French Connection.</p>
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