BREAKING: Philip Green's Arcadia U.K. Fashion Group Falls Into Administration

Photo: Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - British tycoon Philip Green's Arcadia fashion group has collapsed into administration, putting over 13,000 jobs at risk and becoming the country's biggest corporate casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic so far.

Deloitte said late on Monday it had been appointed Arcadia's administrator and would seek buyers for the group's brands: Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Miss Selfridge, Evans, Burton and Outfit. The group trades from 444 leased sites in the United Kingdom and 22 overseas.

Deloitte said Arcadia's stores would continue to trade, its online platforms would remain operational and supplies to concession partners would continue.

It said no redundancies were being immediately announced.

While COVID-19 lockdowns pushed Arcadia over the edge, it has struggled in recent years, underinvesting and failing to keep pace with competitors in an increasingly online retail sector.

Its brands were squeezed between the likes of Inditex's Zara, H&M, and Primark and online-only players ASOS, and Boohoo.

A restructuring deal was approved by creditors last year, cutting rents and closing stores, but proved only a temporary respite.

Read more from the original article:

https://www.investing.com/news...