Intu still ready to vote against Arcadia CVA

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 11, 2019

Arcadia may have sweetened the terns of its CVA in an effort to win landlord support at a series of votes due on Wednesday afternoon, but one major landlord, mall owner Intu, is still prepared to vote against the measures, a report said on Tuesday.

Property Week reported that sources close to it have said Intu will be repeating its ‘no’ vote this time and that means the future of the Arcadia retail empire still remains uncertain.

It needs other landlords, including Landsec, M&G, Aviva and Aberdeen Standard, to switch their votes and register their support in order to avoid an administration filing that could put the group’s 18,000 staff at risk of more major job losses than if the CVA plan gets through.

The property trade magazine reported that Intu isn’t prepared “to punish full-rent-paying and loyal tenants” by allowing Arcadia to close stores ahead of lease expiries and to radically cut rents. Intu currently hosts 35 shops operated by Arcadia in its different centres and the fashion retailer had originally proposed a 50% rent cut, scaling that back to 40% after it was clear that it wouldn't get landlord support at its CVA meeting last Wednesday.

Intu is Arcadia's biggest landlord and controls around 15% of the votes at the creditors meeting. Given that 70% of the 35 shops are Topshop branches, the trade paper said sources say Intu is confident that the brand will survive, even after an administration filing, which explains its willingness to vote against Arcadia.

The fashion group needs 75% support to get its plan through and while some landlords will be voting in favour, Bluewater landlord Landsec is the one that could swing things as it reportedly hasn't yet made up its mind.