Arcadia board to hold crunch restructuring meeting today

Directors for the Arcadia Group, whose fascias include Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Burton, Evans, Wallis and Outfit, will meet today to whether to restructure or sell the business, according to Sky News.

The talks come amid mounting speculation that Green is mulling launching a CVA in a bid to slash rents and get rid of a number of stores across the group.

Yesterday it was reported that HSBC had agreed to act as a guarantor with Arcadia suppliers, in a deal that was described by one City insider as “unusual”.

Green appointed two restructuring experts to the Arcadia board in April, after first reaching out to Deloitte and property agency GCW to investigate restructuring options in March. 

Arcadia hopes to close about 25 stores and win lower rents on others. One landlord said the retailer’s stores are operated through a “complicated” network of smaller subsidiaries, meaning that it must win over more landlords than has been the case in other similar restructures.

The retailer also hopes to halve its annual £50m contributions to employee pension schemes.

Green has proposed offering Topshop’s flagship store on London’s Oxford Street as security to the pension funds.