According to sources, British retail giant Marks & Spencer has been approached to partner with a local retail group to take over key David Jones sites in Westfield shopping centres, ChannelNews can reveal, just days after the 188-year-old department store collapsed into administration.

Sources close to the talks said an approach has already been made to Westfield owner Scentre Group by the local group, which is seeking to bring M&S back to Australia 25 years after it quit the market.

One model on the table would retain the David Jones name, with an M&S shop-in-shop operation inside the stores, a format the British retailer already runs through partners in other markets.

Neither Westfield nor M&S has commented.

David Jones Collapse Opens The Door

David Jones’ directors appointed McGrathNicol as voluntary administrators on Thursday, with secured lender Hilco then appointing FTI Consulting as receivers and managers.

Scentre told the ASX this week that David Jones had not paid rent since 30 September. The retailer occupies space in 17 Westfield centres, around 200,000 square metres, making Scentre its largest landlord.

Scentre chief executive Elliott Rusanow said Anchorage Capital Partners, which owns David Jones, had rejected what he called a generous offer that would have kept the business trading.

Anchorage is now pushing a “David Jones 2.0” plan built around a small number of flagship stores and exclusive brands, a structure that would leave the debts of the current operation with suppliers and landlords.

For Westfield, that leaves a large block of anchor space in prime centres heading into an uncertain 2027, and M&S is understood to be viewed as a credible replacement tenant.

M&S In Growth Mode

The approach comes as M&S posts its strongest numbers in years.

Overnight the group reported revenue of A$17.7 billion, up 16.2%, with adjusted profit before tax more than doubling to A$766 million from A$350 million.

Food sales rose 13.9% to A$9.81 billion, with operating profit of A$548 million and margin lifting to 5.6% from 2.0%. Like-for-like food sales grew 11.7% and UK food market share reached 4.3%.

Fashion, Home & Beauty sales rose 17.5% to A$3.79 billion, delivering operating profit of A$286 million at a 7.5% margin.

International operations grew sales 22.1% to A$593 million in the half, with adjusted operating profit of A$29 million, despite disruption in the Middle East. That follows a 7.2% fall in international sales to A$1.03 billion in FY26.

M&S lists more than 70 international markets and over 380 international stores, most of them franchise-run.

Partnership Playbook

Overseas, M&S is growing almost entirely through partners: franchise operators in established markets, marketplace deals to drive online sales, and expansion of its own-brand clothing and food.

That has included expanded marketplace agreements with retailers such as Target in the US.

At home, management has identified 500 potential locations for new and renewed stores, plans to double the size of its food business, and expects more than half its estate to operate in its new format by April 2028.

M&S is a major anchor at Westfield London in White City, where it recently confirmed upgrades, and has traded at Westfield Stratford City since 2011.

Third Attempt At Australia

M&S first entered Australia in 1972 and built a local network before closing every store in 2001.

It looked at a return in 2013 and 2014, commissioning leasing agents to hunt for sites in Sydney and Melbourne, but nothing opened.

Food is seen as the key to any return. David Jones has previously tried and struggled to make food halls work, which observers put down in part to a lack of food retail expertise, the area where M&S is strongest.

Anchorage’s Track Record

Anchorage bought David Jones from South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings in 2023 for around $100 million.

The private equity firm previously owned Dick Smith, which it floated in 2013 under chief executive Nick Abboud. Dick Smith collapsed in 2016 with debts of around $400 million.

David Jones is led by Erica Berchtold, who joined as chief commercial officer in May 2025 and was promoted to CEO in June 2026, the first woman to run the business in its 188-year history.

Berchtold started her career at Harvey Norman and later ran The Iconic and Rebel Sport. She was named CEO of Best & Less in 2023, but the appointment was scrapped after Brett Blundy and Ray Itaoui’s takeover succeeded.

She then became CEO of Mosaic Brands, owner of Rivers, Katies, Millers, Noni B, Rockmans, W.Lane, Autograph, BeMe and Crossroads, which entered administration in October 2024. David Jones is the second retailer she has led into administration.