Affordable fashion retailer New Look is reportedly close to a £ 100 million debt refinancing following a period of months in which it’s been working with advisers on its options for the loan.
According to a Sky News report, the corporation has been in discussions with Blazehill Capital and Wells Fargo regarding a loan replacement that is due to mature in June of next year, and the negotiations to finalise a deal are “advanced.” This “will give it financial breathing room amid a worsening trading environment” for fashion stores, according to the news website.
However, a Sky story from earlier this year, when word of the talks first surfaced, stated that the company had been doing well at the time and that the debt refinancing discussions weren’t an indication of weakness. Alteri, a specialised retail investor, and Davidson Kempner, a division of Goldman Sachs, are the debt’s current holders.
With more than 400 locations, New Look is one of the biggest physical-to-digital fashion merchants operating in Britain and Ireland. More than 10,000 people work there.
The company has faced some difficult times recently, and during the pandemic, a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) and financial recapitalization were implemented, without which company may have failed. It introduced a rent-free/turnover-based rent model, but big landlords opposed it. However, it prevailed in a legal battle that some of those landlords initiated to contest its CVA.
Former Bonmarché CEO Helen Connolly took over as its chief executive last summer and it seems to have bounced back to a certain extent with a report this spring saying the financial year ended 25th March saw revenue at £ 895 million with EBITDA up 67 per cent to £ 42.2 million.
