House of Fraser cash injection deal ‘on hold’

The deal to rescue House of Fraser, which would also see the closure of 31 stores, has been put on hold because of legal action by a group of landlords.

The Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) had been approved last month and Chinese investor C Banner, which owns Hamleys, was then going to put in £70m into the retailer.

But it has held off after legal action was begun to challenge the CVA, on the basis of “unfair prejudice” against certain creditors and “material irregularities” in how the deal was pushed through.

The CVA would leave just 28 House of Fraser stores trading, with 10 of those benefitting from large rent cuts.

The West Midlands stores earmarked for closure are Birmingham, Leamington Spa, Shrewsbury, Telford, Wolverhampton and Worcester. All stores identified for closure are anticipated to trade until early 2019.

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