Sir Philip Green’s struggling retail business Arcadia Group has announced it will move forward with its company voluntary arrangement (CVA) restructuring plans after a legal challenge was withdrawn by US landlords.
The US retail landlords, which included Vornado and Caruso, filed the legal challenge a couple of days after Arcadia’s seven CVA’s were approved by shareholders in June this year.
Arcadia Group CEO Ian Grabiner said: “With these legal challenges now withdrawn, all the components of the CVAs can now be implemented. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank all of our staff, customers and creditors for their loyal support during this tough period for retail businesses. We can now look forward to implementing our strategy and delivering our growth plan for the group.”
Last month, GlobalData Retail reported that Arcadia’s share of the UK womenswear market is forecast to fall to 4.9% in 2019 – a decline of 1.4 percentage points since 2016.
GlobalData said: “Arcadia’s brands must focus their efforts on driving relevance via inclusivity, sustainability and impactful marketing or risk jeopardising their chance of survival.”
Legal challenges continue to affect UK retail CVAs
Arcadia Group is not the only UK retailer to face legal challenges to its CVA plans. UK department store chain Debenhams could see its CVA be challenged next Monday as Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has launched a private landlord’s lawsuit.
GlobalData Retail reported that sources close to the department store believe Mike Ashley wants to push Debenhams into administration, which would allow him to ‘cherry-pick’ the best shops.
