Department store chain Debenhams, which also sells car coverage and life insurance in its capacity as appointed representative of Eldon Insurance Services Limited, has gone into administration.
Chad Griffin, Simon Kirkhope, and Andrew Johnson of FTI Consulting LLP have been appointed as joint administrators of the plc (public limited company), whose shares listing on the London Stock Exchange is cancelled effective 8am today (April 10).
Debenhams said the trio have immediately sold all of plc’s ownership of the group to a newly incorporated firm controlled by the retailer’s secured lenders in a pre-packaged sale.
“The administrators concluded that the transaction was in the best interests of the plc’s creditors,” stated the fallen high street name in a regulatory filing. “Furthermore, it minimises business disruption and provides ongoing access to funding, ensuring continuity for the group’s operating businesses, lenders, suppliers, employees, pension holders, and customers.”
According to Debenhams, its underlying group operating companies are not affected by the administration and all businesses remain to trade as normal. Meanwhile the restructuring of operations will continue to be implemented.
In 2018 the UK-headquartered enterprise was hit by insurance-related woes including the reduction or withdrawal of trade credit coverage from its suppliers amid profitability issues.
Last year also saw a change.org campaign ask the organisation “to investigate fully and then publish a statement confirming that it is satisfied that Arron Banks is acting in line with Debenhams values or end their business relationship with Banks and source a more ethical insurer.”
Eldon Insurance, which is majority-owned by the famed Brexit donor, was previously fined over illegal marketing connected to the Leave.EU campaign. A British Parliament testimony made by a former Cambridge Analytica worker pointed to the misuse of the insurance agency’s customer data.
Meanwhile Sports Direct, which has a 29% stake in Debenhams, asserted the following in a statement after the administration announcement: “This is nothing short of a national scandal – and one that could so easily have been avoided if Debenhams had chosen to engage with its largest shareholders constructively rather than obstructively.”
