High street crisis continues as House of Fraser’s lenders call in advisers
House of Fraser has become the latest household name to send out warning signals, as its lenders have appointed EY as advisers to check its ongoing viability as a business.
In a year that has already seen the collapse of Toys R Us and Maplins, a syndicate of banks acting as lenders to House of Fraser have appointed EY to check that the struggling department store will be able to weather the storm, Sky News first reported last night.
The news comes just one month after it emerged that House of Fraser had appointed Rothschild to oversee its debt refinancing.
Read more:House of Fraser appeals for landlord support to cut rents
A credit insurer also decided to pull cover on House of Fraser after a disappointing set of Christmas results, leaving 20 suppliers to either find new insurance or demand immediate payment for their goods from the department store.
Earlier this month, the Chinese department store conglomerate Nanjing Cenbest which owns House of Fraser revealed it was looking to sell a 51 per cent stake to tourism company Wuji Wenhua. Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley still has an 11 per cent stake in House of Fraser, which he bought in 2014.
Ashley has long been considering a merger between Debenhams and House of Fraser, and recently upped his stake in Debenhams to 29.7 per cent – just shy of the threshold at which he must launch a takeover bid.
Read more: House of Fraser boss says businesses need a "signal" on Brexit
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