All Saints, the contemporary fashion retailer, will next week become the latest high street chain to demand steep rent cuts from its landlords as it fights to survive the coronavirus crisis.
Sky News has learnt that All Saints will launch a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) on Tuesday that will seek rent reductions across its UK and US operations.
Headquartered in east London, the company has been owned by Lion Capital, the private equity firm, since 2011.
Lion, which counts Jimmy Choo and Cadbury-Schweppes among its past investments, has been examining options to support All Saints since the outbreak of the pandemic, and is said to have decided that a CVA for its UK and US subsidiaries represents the most viable choice.
Alvarez & Marsal, the professional services firm, is handling the process.
The launch of All Saints' CVA is scheduled to take place the day after the government permits non-essential retailers to resume trading for the first time since March.
All Saints trades from more than 250 stores in 26 countries, and has a strong presence in Asia.
Founded in 1994, it employs more than 3,000 people across the group.
Sources close to the CVA process said All Saints planned to close only a handful of its stores under the CVA, with the focus of the restructuring plan being to extract substantial financial concessions from landlords.
The chain is run by Peter Wood and chaired by Lyndon Lea, the boss of Lion Capital.
In 2018, it recorded total sales of £331m, roughly half of which was generated by its business outside the UK.
The company, which is understood to have seen record sales last year, said its rapidly expanding digital operations accounts for around a quarter of overall sales.
Its UK business comprises roughly 40 standalone stores, with dozens more concessions in department stores.
One source said Lion remained committed to All Saints.
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The chain's pursuit of a CVA will represent the latest infliction of pain on Britain's big retail property-owners, with Hammerson and Intu Properties faring particularly badly during the COVID-19 crisis.
Some landlords expect to receive barely a quarter of the rent they are owed on quarter-day later this month, prompting an intensification of tensions between real estate-owners and commercial tenants.
A new code of conduct drawn up during the pandemic which aims to share its financial burden more fairly between the two sides has met with a lacklustre reaction from key stakeholders.
The high street's jobs bloodbath is expected to deepen next week with the launch of a CVA by Poundstretcher, the discount retailer.
It is expected to warn landlords that as many as 250 of its shops could close permanently if it does not secure sufficient rent concessions.
Meanwhile, New Look, the fashion chain, is in talks with landlords about switching to a turnover rent arrangement.
The response of store-owners is said to have been "mixed".
The carnage in the retail sector will be underlined in the next 10 days, with Intu, the owner of the Trafford Centre in Manchester and Lakeside shopping centre in Essex, on the brink of falling into administration.
Lion and All Saints declined to comment on Saturday.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWFsbC1zYWludHMtZmFzaGlvbnMtY3ZhLXBsYW4tYW1pZC1oaWdoLXN0cmVldC1jcmlzaXMtMTIwMDU4OTHSAWhodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvY29yb25hdmlydXMtYWxsLXNhaW50cy1mYXNoaW9ucy1jdmEtcGxhbi1hbWlkLWhpZ2gtc3RyZWV0LWNyaXNpcy0xMjAwNTg5MQ?oc=5
2020-06-13 11:26:41Z
CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWFsbC1zYWludHMtZmFzaGlvbnMtY3ZhLXBsYW4tYW1pZC1oaWdoLXN0cmVldC1jcmlzaXMtMTIwMDU4OTHSAWhodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvY29yb25hdmlydXMtYWxsLXNhaW50cy1mYXNoaW9ucy1jdmEtcGxhbi1hbWlkLWhpZ2gtc3RyZWV0LWNyaXNpcy0xMjAwNTg5MQ
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