Arcadia seeks £50m in funding

Sir Phillip Green is reportedly seeking out £50m to prop up Arcadia Group amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

According to Sky News, Green’s retail empire has approached banks and hedge funds in regards to borrowing £50m against its distribution centre in Daventry, Northamptonshire.

The site, which opened last year, functions as a logistics hub for Topshop. Green’s wife reportedly has full security over the site, but “agreed as part of a financial restructuring last year to subordinate her debt position” in order to allow Arcadia to borrow against it.

The resulting funding would enable the group to navigate through the ongoing pandemic, which has seen 550 of its sites temporarily cease trading.

One of the lenders approached by Green told Sky News that the company had “signalled a desire to agree a deal as quickly as possible.”

News of the sought funds closely follows the announcement that Arcadia has furloughed 14,500 employees in light of the ongoing pandemic. 

In addition, “in support of these challenging times” the board and senior leadership team of Arcadia have taken a salary reduction of between 25%-50% in order to shore up funds.

Group CEO, Ian Grabiner, has elected to receive no salary or benefits until further notice.

The group will be holding a board meeting today (9 April) to further discuss the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the company.

In regards to the funding, Sky News said that it is still not clear whether an imminent deal with a new lender was likely.