Superdry will fall into administration unless shareholders back his three year, multi-million pound turnaround plan for the struggling fashion chain, chief executive Julian Dunkerton warns.
Dunkerton’s plan to save Superdry will see it quit the London Stock Exchange after 14 years and raise up to £10million in fresh finance. It will also involve rent reductions on 39 of its sites and its lenders extending the repayment dates on its debts.
Superdry shareholders will be given two refinancing options to vote on in June. The first would see it sell £6million worth of shares to new and existing investors. The second would see Dunkerton put in £10million in exchange for new shares, which would see him go from owning 26 percent of the company to 88 percent.
The under pressure fashion chain said that if the restructuring plan fails to win approval, it will “need to enter administration or an equivalent insolvency process. This outcome would leave creditors, including the creditors whose claims would otherwise be compromised by the restructuring plan, materially worse off”.
Dunkerton said that taking Superdry off the London Stock Exchange would save it significant sums of money and give it the privacy it needs to make its turnaround work. He added that the restructuring plan will have no affect on Superdry’s staff, suppliers or landlords outside of the UK.
He added: “This marks a critical moment in Superdry’s history. At its heart, these proposals are putting the business on the right footing to secure its long-term future following a period of unprecedented challenges. I am aware of the implications for all our stakeholders and I have sought to protect their interests as much as possible.”
As a sign of his confidence in Superdry’s survival prospects, Dunkerton said that he will underwrite its rescue fund raising.
Superdry was a darling of the fashion world when it floated in early 2010 at 500p per share, which valued it then at £395million. They peaked at £20.22 each in January 2018 before going into free fall as its trading deteriorated, a situation that was made worse by the pandemic. At the time of writing, the shares were worth 5.5p.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at broker Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “With brand recognition still strong, there is a chance Superdry will survive, but it’s sorely in need of a new style injection to reignite consumer demand.”
