UK's New Look announces conclusion of debt financing, new Chairman

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Jun 29, 2015

British high street fashion brand New Look has seen a successful conclusion of its debt refinancing. This optimises its capital structure, reduces costs, extends maturities to 2022 and eliminates the Company’s former PIK loans.

The retailer also revealed that the sale of a majority stake in the company to African investment heavyweight Brait SE was completed on June 25. Brait now owns a 90% stake in New Look, with the Singh family interests and the current management of the Company having acquired the remaining c.10%.

Paul Mason is standing down as Non-Executive Chairman of the company and John Gnodde has been appointed as non-executive Chairman of New Look, alongside his current role as Chief Executive of Brait.

Commenting on this announcement, Anders Kristiansen, Chief Executive, said:

"This is a very exciting time for New Look. The acquisition of our equity by Brait, coupled with our successful refinancing, leaves us strongly positioned to achieve our strategic goals.

"The refinancing represents a further step forward for the business. Our capital structure has been improved and the repayment of our former debt arrangements has allowed us to remove all remaining PIK loans from our balance sheet. Maturities have also been extended, giving us additional flexibility as we continue to deliver on our strategic priorities of Brand, Multichannel, International Expansion, Product Development and Menswear."