Intu pleads for £12m funding line – reports

KPMG has asked the bondholders of the Metro Centre in Gateshead and Manchester’s Trafford Centre for £12 in additional funding to keep stricken mall operator intu trading.

According to Sky News, KPMG has approached the bondholder telling them that, without the cash, intu won’t be able to continue to operate much of its UK shopping centre estate, if administrators are called in.

As well as the Manchester and Gateshead venues, intu owns the Broadmarsh and Victoria shopping centres in Nottingham, part of a shopping centre in Derby and the Merry Hill centre in Birmingham.

The firm’s lenders are currently deciding whether or not to agree to a standstill agreement for 18 months to try and shift some of its £4.5bn debt mountain.

Sky says its sources estimate that intu would need an agreement in place “several days” before the June 26 deadline for a standstill deal – meaning that it only has around 10 days to ensure its survival.