Intu faces closure
UXBRIDGE SHOPPING CENTRE’S FUTURE UNCERTAIN AS OWNER ENTERS ADMINISTRATION
THE owner of some of the UK’s biggest shopping centres entered administration on Friday, in a move that could place more than 17 outlets at risk of closure.
Intu, which has been struggling with £4.5 billion worth of debt, was hoping to reach a “standstill” on its debts with lenders, but in an update to investors on Friday the business said it had failed to reach an agreement, which would have allowed it to defer interest payments on its large and complex debts, writes The Mirror.
There is now concern surrounding the shops housed inside each of the company’s shopping centres, including Intu Uxbridge.
In a statement issued on Intu’s website, the shopping centre operating companies are expected to enter “transitional services agreements” in order to secure the future of individual’s shops.
The statement reads: “Underlying group operating companies remain unaffected and all shopping centres are continuing to trade.
“The Intu Group’s relationships with its tenants are with these operating companies, not the companies entering administration.
“The shopping centre operating companies have or are expected to enter into transitional services agreements with the administrators of the central entities to ensure continuity of service provision by the central entities to the individual shopping centres.”
Intu employs about 3,000 staff across the UK, while a further 102,000 work for the shops within its shopping centre.
Before Friday’s announcement, a spokesperson for Intu Properties said: “Some centres have reduced rent collections as a result of Covid-19 and cash trapped under their financing arrangements which restrict their ability to pay for support, such as shopping centre staff, from other entities in the Intu group.
“In the event that Intu Properties plc is unable to reach a standstill, it is likely it and certain other central entities will fall into administration.”
The spokesperson added: “In this situation, all property companies would be required to pre-fund the administrator to provide central services to the shopping centres.
“If the administrator is not prefunded then there is a risk that centres may have to close for a period.”