Matalan lenders reportedly lining up advisors
Matalan's lenders have reportedly lined up advisors to discuss the budget retailer's future, according to Sky News.
The fashion and homeware's senior bondholders have reportedly lined up Perella Weinberg Partners to discuss a £350 million repayment due to take place in early 2023.
Other lenders who are said to be owed about £80 million are seemingly close to appoint Houlihan Lokey to advise them.
Sources have told Sky News that Matalan's refinancing is expected in the next few weeks, with founder John Hargreaves, expected to provide tens of millions of pounds in funding to keep control of the company. The news comes a few months after Hargreaves lost a long-running court battle over an attempt to avoid a tax bill of up to £135 million.
Matalan employs around 10,000 people and operating 230 store in the UK. In January this year it recorded £291.4 million in revenues for its Q3 and Christmas trading period, an increase of 19% compared to the same period in 2020. It also announced pre-tax profits of £61.1 million an increase of £7 million compared to the same period in the year prior (£54.1 million).
Steve Johnson, Executive Chairman of Matalan, commented then that the results reflected a "strong performance in what continue to be challenging circumstance." He added that product availability had suffered from delays in inbound stock and that "heavy disruption" in the UK logistics and labour markets had created significant extra costs for the retailer.
