Superdry shareholders back £10mn lifeline to stave off insolvency

UK fashion retailer Superdry has managed to avoid insolvency after shareholders backed a £10mn lifeline on Friday.

The results of the meeting with investors come after the company warned in April that it could go bust unless it launched a sweeping restructuring of the business, including negotiating rent reductions with landlords, and said it would delist from the London stock market.

Superdry chair Peter Sjölander described shareholders’ approval of the equity raise as “a crucial step” for Superdry’s survival, with co-founder and chief executive Julian Dunkerton saying it was “a turning point for the business” pending court approval for the restructuring plan next week. 

Earlier this week, the majority of retailer’s creditors, such as landlords, green lit the measures before shareholders could have their say on Friday.

Superdry, which started life in a Cheltenham market stall in 1985, is seeking rent reductions on 39 branches of its 93 UK stores but it warned that “the closure of certain stores . . . as a consequence of the implementation of the plan” was likely.

Superdry has previously said its main lenders Hilco and Bantry Bay were supportive of the changes. Dunkerton will inject “a significant amount of his own money” and underwrite the £10mn equity raise as the brand prepares to delist, taking his total stake to 75 per cent.

The retailer listed in London in 2010 in an initial public offering valuing it at £400mn after it grew in popularity thanks to unsolicited celebrity endorsements from the likes of footballer David Beckham and singer Shakira, but has struggled from weak demand and a cash crunch in recent years.

After a bitter battle with its previous management, Dunkerton rejoined the struggling retailer in 2019, a move that led to its entire board resigning in protest. He promised at the time to put in place the plan that would turn around Superdry after a collapse in sales and profits but the coronavirus pandemic a year later forced it to shut hundreds of stores for months and it has not recovered since.

In April, Dunkerton told the Financial Times that other UK brands such as AllSaints and Fat Face had implemented similar restructurings successfully and Superdry was “one of the last [retailers] to do it”.