Debenhams considers costly debt options to secure £175m refinancing

Debenhams Group, formerly known as Boohoo Group, is in early talks to secure a refinancing package worth up to £175 million, as it continues its transformation under new leadership.

The Manchester-based group has entered discussions to raise £50 million through the high-yield debt market - an avenue known for higher interest rates that could climb into the mid-teens, according to The Telegraph. Industry sources suggest this portion of the refinancing could be notably more expensive than traditional bank lending.

The company is also in talks with asset-backed lenders, who typically offer funding secured against property, inventory, or intellectual property, often at a premium cost.

The remaining £125 million is expected to come from refinancing a two-year loan originally secured in October 2023. That facility drew criticism from major shareholder and rival Mike Ashley at the time, who labelled it "the worst refinancing deal that a public company has done in living memory".

Now operating under the Debenhams name, after a corporate rebrand announced in March, the business is undergoing a strategic reset. New CEO Dan Finley is steering the company toward a marketplace model, using the revitalisation of the Debenhams brand as a template for broader group transformation. Finley has the backing of a new leadership team, though tensions persist with Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, which holds nearly a 30% stake in the business.

The group reported a 16% year-on-year revenue decline to £1.22 billion in its most recent results, with its shares trading near historic lows. In December 2024, the group repaid £97 million in debt and is now evaluating long-term financing options ahead of the expiration of its revolving credit facility in October 2026.

A spokesperson for Debenhams Group said: "Having become Debenhams Group, we are currently at the early stages of evaluating our financing arrangements. In December, we paid back £97 million of debt, and we are now considering the refinancing of our £125 million revolving credit facility, well ahead of its term ending in October 2026.

"Debenhams is back and under a new management team, it is right for us to assess the ideal financing structure to underpin our ambitious growth plans."