Insiders

Property groups to demand better terms from Green's Arcadia - Sky News

May 02, 2019 at 10:07 am EDT

(Reuters) - Some of the UK's top property groups such as Hammerson Plc and British Land Company Plc were set to demand better terms from Philip Green's Arcadia Group, Sky News reported on Thursday.

The move comes a month after Green said he was working on restructuring Arcadia, which trades under brands such as Top Shop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins.

The property groups, which included Aviva, are expected to appoint advisers to help oversee talks with Arcadia in the coming weeks, the report said.

Other property owners such as Aberdeen Standard Investments, M&G Investments were also expected to be part of the consortium with the collective objective of securing improved terms for all landlords in which Arcadia's more than 500 outlets operate.

Arcadia, which employs over 18,000 employees, said last month it was dealing with "an exceptionally challenging retail market" and "continued pressures that are specific to the UK high street."

Hammerson and Aberdeen Standard Investments declined to comment, while British Land could not be immediately reached. Arcadia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Samantha Machado and Sangameshwaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

Stocks mentioned in the article

	Add to a list Add to a list 0 selected To use this feature you must be a member Log in Sign up	Price	Change	5d. change	Capi.
	BRITISH LAND COMPANY PLC	388.4 GBX	+0.05%	+2.37%	4.48B
	HAMMERSON PLC	26.66 GBX	-0.22%	-0.15%	1.66B

Philip Green

British billionaire Philip Green is known for his commercial success, his unconventionality and for his mordacity. Seventh richest man in Britain, he shares with his wife Christina a fortune of £3.6 billion, according to the Sunday Times.

He leaved the school at 15 years old, and he began to work as shoes importer travelling in United States, Europe and Far East. When he came back in UK, he borrowed £20 000 and he created his first business importing jeans and selling these to retailers in London.

In 1979, Philip Green bought a large stock of clothing at extremely low prices, and he decided to open his own shop.
In 1988 he became Chairman of Amber Day, a retailing company listed on the Stock exchange.

In early 90s, he bought the chain stores Owen Owen and in 1995 Olympus Sports, which he sold three years later to JJB Sports for £ 550 million.
In 1999, he became popular thanks to hostile takeover’s attempt on Marks and Spencer. Acquisition was blocked by board of directors of the most famous British chain stores, for this reason Green changes the victim, British Home Stores (BHS), which he bought in 2000.

Two years later, it was Arcadia Group’s turn, which owned famous brands Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Outfit, Topshop / Topman and Wallis. Recently also Etam’s chain was acquired by the English businessman.

On 20th October 2005, Green distributed to Arcadia Group’s shareholders dividends of nearly £1.3 billion, and he and his wife (own for 92%) received £1.17 billion, this is the largest dividend ever received by an individual investor in the history of the British company.

View full profile