Intu fails to secure vital new funding

LONDON: One of Britain’s biggest shopping mall operators, Intu Properties, has failed to secure vital new funding and said it was in danger of breaching debt commitments due in July because of the tough climate for UK retailers.

Shares in the London-listed firm, which owns Manchester’s Trafford Centre, Lakeside in Essex, and another 18 properties in Britain and Spain, fell 30% to a record low.

Intu said it would seek other sources of financing, including looking at selling assets, and take mitigating actions which may include negotiating debt waivers where appropriate.

The company was stuck with a 4.5 billion pound ($ 5.77 billion) debt pile at the end of 2019 and had planned to raise between 1 billion and 1.5 billion pounds to shore up its balance sheet after being hit by highprofile failures in the retail industry and rent renegotiations.

At its peak in 2006, Intu had a market value of nearly 13 billion pounds which had plummeted to around 81 million pounds on Wednesday.

It had been in talks for new equity funding with its largest shareholder John Whittaker’s Peel Group and also with new investor Hong Kong-based Link Real Estate Investment Trust.

Having made a 2.9 billion pounds approach for the company in 2018, Whittaker later walked away. Rival Hammerson also abandoned a 3.4 billion pounds takeover offer in 2018.